About 170 passengers who got stranded at the Italian airports of Naples and Palermo since Friday finally arrived back in Belgium on Sunday afternoon on board a TUI Fly Belgium rescue Boeing 737-800 (registered OO-JAX). Some passengers were forced to spend two nights at the airport.
The ordeal began on Friday, 19 July, at Naples Airport. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 (registered OO-TMZ) was scheduled to depart to Palermo (on the Italian island of Sicily) before continuing to Brussels. However, a technical inspection was required for one of the wings.
“After the technical inspection, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” said TUI spokesperson Piet Demeyere to newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. “We tried to communicate with our local handler to provide drinks and meals for the affected passengers, but they never received assistance. Eventually, the crew exceeded the maximum duty time, necessitating an overnight stay.”
Due to the busy holiday season, a Naples hotel was found for only thirty travellers; the others spent a night at the airport. For the Palermo travellers, a hotel was found for everyone.
More Problems
On Saturday, the flight was finally able to depart for Palermo. However, another check was needed upon arrival in Sicily. Passengers were disembarked, and it was decided that another plane from Brussels would be sent to Italy to pick up the travellers. This was scheduled for Sunday, requiring another overnight stay. “We had the immense bad luck that there was no more overnight accommodation available in Palermo, while there had been no problem the night before,” said Demeyere. Once again, passengers had to spend the night at the airport, leading to many dissatisfied reactions.
Strangely enough, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 which was involved in the delays departed empty to Brussels Saturday evening with only the crew on board.
On Sunday, Boeing 737-800 registered OO-JAX sent from Brussels to pick up the unfortunate passengers was scheduled for take-off around noon, but a slot restriction prevented the aircraft from leaving on schedule. While some passengers bought airline tickets on other airlines, the stranded passengers arrived back in Brussels with a delay of over 48 hours.
Compensation
TUI promises affected passengers 400 euros compensation per person (note from the editor: as per European Regulation EU261/2004) and says it will cover all additional incurred costs. “We will thoroughly investigate what went wrong. We do not want this to happen a second time,” added the TUI spokesperson.
Some passengers explained to Belgian broadcast VTM NEWS that they felt abandoned by the airline. “We certainly lacked communication and a representative at the airport, we are trapped in an airport building without water, as the vending machines are empty and the shops are closed at night.”
