Travellers booked on TUI fly Belgium flight TB1603 have been stuck in Tenerife since yesterday, 6 January. Due to a technical defect on the plane, they cannot fly to Liège.
The travellers who had booked a flight from Tenerife South to Liège could not leave yesterday as planned at 13:45 UTC. “We were told that our flight could not depart due to a technical defect in the aircraft. Everyone was taken to a hotel in the evening,” Nico tells our newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
At 13:30 the airport information board showed the flight was delayed. TB1603 had flown normally and on time from Liège to Gran Canaria and further to Tenerife South, where it landed early at 13:06.
The spokesman for TUI Piet Demeyere confirms to Het Laatste Nieuws that the plane, a Boeing 737-800 registered OO-TUK, has a technical defect. “It couldn’t be solved immediately yesterday. We took the travellers to a hotel. A technician flew to Tenerife this morning with spare parts. The departure was scheduled for 14:00, but solving the problem turned out to take longer. We have now handed out vouchers.”
TUI will provide the affected travellers with the EU mandatory compensation of 400 euros per person.
The aircraft was repaired this evening but has yet to be tested. Passengers have since been told to spend another night in a hotel.
The affected passengers will probably be able to fly back to Belgium tomorrow morning, 8 January. Detailed information about the flight is not yet known. Flightradar24 shows an expected departure time of 08:00 UTC.
Source: Het Laatste Nieus, Flightradar24