An agent has thanked Santa’s Lapland for pulling out all the stops so her clients could still visit Father Christmas when their flight was cancelled in last weekend’s storm.
Not Just Travel agent Leyla Kent had booked a family of four, including boys aged nine and seven, on a three-night Santa’s Magic trip to Saariselkä resort in Finland. However, when their flight from Cardiff to Ivalo was cancelled because of Storm Darragh, it looked like their dream holiday had been ruined.
Leyla told Travel Gossip: “My customers were flying at 7am from Cardiff on Saturday morning and on Friday night we received Red Alerts on our phones.
“Cardiff Airport shut the runway initially until 11am on Saturday and then pushed the time back further to 2pm.
“This trip was booked in November 2023 and I was so gutted that it looked like my customers wouldn’t be able to travel.
“As soon as my phone had alerted, I called my customer to say I would contact the tour op to find out what we could do. My client explained someone from the tour op had already been in contact with her. They were to travel to the airport as planned and a coach had been arranged to Birmingham to fly the charter flight from there.
“This trip nearly didn’t happen, but the search for Santa was saved and they arrived in resort just a few hours later than initially scheduled.”
Leyla added: “Their trip was booked with Santa’s Lapland. I book all my Lapland trips with them and sister brand Inghams Lapland. I have always loved their product and have amazing feedback but I now know they will literally move planes to make trips happen, when other providers sadly cancelled their departures.
“My husband asked if that’s who we are booked with for our own trip to Lapland next year and I was proud to confirm it was, knowing he was thinking: ‘Well, I know we’ll get looked after then’.”
Leyla attended an Inghams training evening in Bristol this week and was able to thank staff personally on behalf of her clients.
Leyla added: “I’ve got a wonderfully positive story to tell people in the future when they ask why I’m recommending the Inghams brand for their holidays. Being able to trust partners for your clients’ holidays is so important.”
Julie Franklin, Head of Agency Sales at Santa’s Lapland parent Hotelplan UK, said: “We always ensure our customers are looked after as our number one priority. Due to the weather conditions changing, we were able to contact our clients the night before the departure and divert the aircraft to an airport which wasn’t due to be affected.
“This meant none of our guests were disappointed which for most is a trip of a lifetime and they went on to have the most fantastic experience.
“It was only Cardiff affected on that day. Being in a snow-sure resort of Saariselkä, we haven’t had any issues with snow this year and so far, through our five-week season. Our guests are all having an amazing time with Santa’s Lapland.”
