Our flight was cancelled while we were sitting on the plane ready to take off

THIS is the moment holidaymakers were left shocked when their flight was cancelled as they sat waiting for the plane to take off.

Grace and two pals had been hoping to jet from Dublin to Gatwick Airport with Aer Lingus for a break when the nightmare unfolded – leaving the three friends shocked at their misfortune.

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And the friends captured the moment the unexpected announcement was made onboard.

In a TikTok video, a crew member can be heard explaining some workers had run out of hours they were allowed to work – meaning the flight had to be cancelled.

She filmed the moment passengers learned they wouldn’t be going anywhere because some of the crew were over the allowance of hours they are cleared to fly.

In the clip, they explain: “Some of my crew have run out of hours.

“This is a legal maximum that they’re allowed to work per day and it’s regulated by the aviation authorities.

“As such, we have no choice now, but unfortunately I have had to cancel the flight.

“There is an airbridge coming up to the door at the moment, we’re going to be opening the doors shortly, we would ask that you take everything with you.”

Grace is heard saying “no”, as she realises she and her friends won’t be getting to their destination as planned.

The video has racked up more than 1.3 million views on TikTok, and garnered almost 100,000 likes and more than 1,300 comments.

Some viewers of the clip were less than impressed with the short notice given to the hopeful travellers.

One person said: “Knowing hours in advance that they will need to cancel why do they let it go this far”.

Others were sympathetic toward the flight staff, writing: “That must have been so difficult for the cabin crew. You can hear the sadness in the announcer’s voice.”

Another agreed, saying: “Poor crew working hard short staffed. I know the feeling at the moment.”

Someone else wrote: “Imagine the abuse they’re going to get. If they took off on time- then they would have been back by eg four hours – a delay means”.

Another said: “It’s amazing how many people know absolutely nothing about the aviation industry and crew. Crew are not robots and are there for your safety.”

According to the Civil Aviation Authority regulations, staff are not legally able to work more than 12 hours in a day.

An Aer Lingus spokesperson told The Sun Online: “Due to Air Traffic Control (ATC) restrictions at London Gatwick on Sunday 03 July, Aer Lingus was forced to cancel return flight EI238/EI239, Dublin-London Gatwick-Dublin.

“Continuous delays, caused by ATC restrictions, to the flight’s departure from Dublin, resulted in crew being ‘out of hours’.

“Passengers were re-accommodated on the next available flights and provided with hotel accommodation as required. Aer Lingus wishes to apologise to those customers that were impacted.”

Ryanair, British Airways, EasyJet and other airlines are all cancelling flights, mostly last minute, and this results in long queues across British airports.

It is a perfect storm of issues, including staffing problems, IT glitches, runway works and air traffic restrictions.

Both airlines and airports were haemorrhaging cash over the course of the pandemic, as Brits were put off foreign holidays thanks to either travel bans, the threat of quarantine or the ever-changing government travel traffic light system.

That meant staff had to be laid off, with many inevitably finding another career that they have no intention of returning from.

For airports and airlines looking to recruit new staff, the process is more complicated than in a normal occupation due to safety issues.

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