Stranded Belgian travelers arrived at Holiday destination after three days: « receive 400 euros in compensation per person » (Berendrecht-Zandvliet-Lillo)

Lien Neiman, her partner and 9-year-old son left on Friday morning from Berendrecht to Eindhoven airport for a week in Hurghada, a well-known seaside resort in Egypt. « We stepped up and made a stopover on Sharm-El-Sheikh, half an hour of our final destination. Normally we would take off after half an hour, but the plane remained on the ground due to a technical problem, » says Lien. A solution was searched for and after 3.5 hours the travelers were told the news that the plane could not fly any further. Everyone had to leave the device.

Lien, her family and other passengers, including forty Belgians, were taken by buses to a hotel with a swimming pool nearby. It soon became clear that they would not fly the next day. « On Friday evening we received a message from TUI that our flight would only leave on Sunday 6 April at 9.30 am. The travel company booked an extra night at the hotel for all travelers. It was a reassurance that we could stay together and the hotel did its best, but the accommodation was not of the same quality as the hotel we had booked in Hurghada. »

Second time

The hotel was located on the beach and had a swimming pool. The stranded travelers tried to make the best of it, but due to the uncertainty there was no total relaxation. The flight from Sunday morning 9.30 am to Hurghada was postponed to 12.20 pm and then even to 9 pm. « We were finally picked up at the hotel and brought to the airport in the evening. Once the flight was left with another hour, but we were already relieved that we would fly. » The flight was prepared and the aircraft was prepared for departure. Everything seemed to be fine, but unfortunately that was only a sham.

« We were ready to leave, the aircraft had been pushed and then we suddenly stopped again. The pilot told us that the problem was not resolved and the flight was canceled. » Everyone had to leave the device and the stranded passengers were taken back to the hotel at night.

Disappointed

« At night we got the news that we will take off on Monday with another plane. » If everything goes well, they will leave for Hurghada at 4 pm. « We try to trust that it will be okay, but we are not comfortable with it. We only believe it when we are effective. »

Lien is disappointed about the communication of TUI and hopes for an appropriate compensation. « Fortunately we did get the text messages from TUI, but other families did not get that and were therefore not kept informed. Since Thursday night we have barely closed an eye because you do not want to miss a message. We hope that TUI will give us a big financial compensation. We have worked hard for this trip and we have been looking for our vacation again from our vacation. »