Flight delays: UK family in Gran Canaria told they can’t get home for nearly two weeks

A family from Wales say they have been left stranded in the Gran Canaria as a result of the ongoing air traffic chaos.

Kelly Hagerty and her family from Aberbargoed went on holiday to the Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria and were planning to head back to Bristol Airport on Monday evening.

But they were told that their easyJet flight was cancelled and were unable to get another flight until 9 September – nearly two weeks after they were meant to fly.

Ms Hagerty said the family “got nothing from easyJet” about the cancellation, which they say they were only told about when they arrived at the airport in Gran Canaria.

The cancellation came during the ongoing UK air traffic control failure, which meant flight plans had to be input manually by controllers, leaving holidaymakers stranded abroad.

Ms Hagerty claims to have not been able to get through to easyJet to organise flights home and the family are now forced to pay out for hotels to stay in Gran Canaria until next month.

She said: “We are looking at another hotel now, we are talking a £1,000 for each family to stay in another hotel.

"We've basically been left stranded, to crack on and sort it ourselves.”

Ms Hagerty, who is on holiday with three other families, added: "We've got work, jobs to go to and school. Some of the children will be starting their first day in secondary school. We are absolutely traumatised. It's an absolute shambles.

Watch: Flight data received by air traffic services ’caused control fault’

"There are just no flights at the moment - none to Heathrow or Gatwick, Cardiff nor Bristol. We've even looked at stopover flights, but there's nothing. It would be nice to get some confirmation or direction here."

Following the cancellations, easyJet said they were providing customers on cancelled flights with the option to transfer their flight free of charge or receive a refund.

They added: "The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while these circumstances are outside of our control, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to reassure customers that we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption."

The airline has since announced it will run five repatriation flights to London Gatwick, with the first two set to take off on Wednesday.

Yahoo News UK has contacted easyJet for a comment.

What are your rights if you are affected by air traffic delays?

If your flight from the EU into the UK or from the UK into the EU has been delayed as a result of air traffic delays, the airline is responsible for providing a ‘duty of care’ if you have opted to take another flight at the earliest opportunity.

They should provide things like food and drink, regular updates and accommodation – including transportation to and from the place of stay – if needed.

Receipts for food and drink and hotel expenses should be included with proof of delays when contacting airlines for reimbursement of costs, but only reasonable expenses are covered.

If your flight is delayed for more than five hours and you no longer wish to travel you can ask for a refund, while refunds and alternative flights should be offered if flights are cancelled entirely.

Up to £520 compensation could also be claimed for delays of over three hours – but the cause of the delay or cancellation must be the airline’s fault and air traffic control issues would not be included.

Holidaymakers on flights from outside the EU to the UK with a non UK or EU airline should contact the airline in question for support.