Passengers returning from Jamaica to the UK, who had to divert to the Bahamas because of an air rage incident, were then left stranded because their plane needed a replacement part.
TUI flight TOM 115 to Manchester left Montego Bay at 5.20pm on Sunday but landed in Nassau two hours later because of a disruptive passenger.
The Independent reports it was then discovered ‘a component involved in discharging the tanks had been damaged’ when the plane dumped fuel into the Atlantic in order to reduce weight and land safely in Nassau.
Because of this, passengers and crew had to stay overnight. As TUI has no staff in Nassau, local ground handling agents were called in to assist.
One passenger, Emma Louise Hamer, posted on Facebook to say she had got to her hotel at 3am on Monday, although some passengers didn’t check in until 7am.
She said passengers were told to leave their rooms at 11am on Monday, then waited at the airport until 8.30pm, when they found out their flight had been cancelled.
The Independent said the new component was sent on a British Airways flight on Tuesday, which had been due to arrive at 2.20pm local time.
The flight was expected to depart at 11.30pm local time on Tuesday, and is due to arrive in Manchester today (Wednesday) at around 12.30pm, two days and five hours late.
TUI said passengers will be able to claim £520 each in compensation and will be given a voucher worth at least £100 for a future TUI holiday.
The Independent calculates that, ‘once compensation, passenger care and dumped fuel are taken into account, TUI is likely to have lost at least £300,000 as a result of the incident’.
