Technical problem grounds TUI flight from Antwerp to Malaga: passengers fly from Brussels 9 hours later

TUIfly Belgium flight TB1001 from Antwerp to Malaga has been delayed for about 9 hours on Monday, 26 December, due to a technical defect. The flight was scheduled to depart from Antwerp, but in the end, it was decided to take the passengers to Brussels by bus where they boarded another aircraft which took off 9 hours later. 

TUIfly Belgium flight TB1001 to Malaga was due to depart from Antwerp on 26 December at 08:00, but the Embraer E190 (reg. OO-JEB) remained grounded due to a technical defect. “Spare parts had to be transferred from Brussels to Antwerp Airport, but that caused a lot of delays,” the spokesman for TUI Piet Demeyere told our colleagues of Het Laatste Nieuws. This technical defect naturally had consequences for the other planned flights with the aircraft. “The people who had to fly back to Antwerp from Malaga were put on a flight to Brussels. They were taken from there to Antwerp by bus.” Passengers received a voucher worth 15 euros on the bus.

Moreover, there was another problem that prevented the aircraft from leaving for safety reasons: one of the three flight attendants had fallen ill and could not be replaced on the spot. At the end of the day, it was decided to let the passengers depart from Brussels with another aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 (reg. OO-TNC). Such aircraft are not allowed at Antwerp Airport, because the runway is too short. So people were put on a bus to Brussels. The flight eventually took off to Malaga at 17:30, more than 9 hours after schedule, as JAF9WM.

The Embraer E190 has another flight planned from Antwerp on the same day: flight TB1101 to Alicante at 13:00. It was decided to have that flight also depart from Brussels as JAF3LB, with another Boeing 737-800 (reg. OO-TUP). There was a delay of 2.5 hours here. The people who had to go to Antwerp from Alicante were also put on a flight to Brussels and then transferred by bus to Antwerp.

TUI Belgium spokesman Demeyere says that all 107 travellers on the flight to Malaga can expect compensation after the hours-long delay. “They will receive an email in which we will ask them to forward a bank account number. We will repay them 400 euros.” On the flight to Alicante, the delay was less than 3 hours, hence there will be no compensation.

Source: HLN, Flightradar24