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Stockport family told to sleep on military-style camp beds at airport as thousands of Brits still stranded

These are the scenes in Tenerife as countless families and bank holiday travellers remain in limbo.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 30th August 2023

A family from Stockport have described the scenes at Tenerife airport following a massive air traffic control failure, which left them sleeping on military-style camp beds INSIDE the airport.

Thousands of Brits have seen their journeys cancelled and are still waiting for new flights home following a network-wide technical issue that put the UK’s entire air traffic control system offline on Monday.

The National Air Traffic Services warned that the disruption “could last days” — and, for now, that certainly looks to be the case.

Stricken passengers and airlines have been left scrambling to find hotel accommodation for those affected by the travel chaos.

That’s included sleeping in hotel lobbies and in airport lounges, including the scenes seen at Tenerife Airport, where tired, hungry and frustrated would-be fliers were temporarily housed along rows of military-style camp beds, as terminals have been turned into temporary bedrooms and living spaces.

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It’s not exactly the most uplifting sight.

While some rail companies have been offering free journeys to those trying to get home around the UK, for those still stuck abroad, many have complained of a lack of communication and support.

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makeshift beds airports travel chaos
Sight like this are fairly common at most airports.
military camp beds airports flight chaos
This one is less so.
People are sleeping on benches, floors and even military camp beds at airports like Tenerife TFS. (Credit: Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño/Natalie Wood)

Stockport local Natalie and her family were set to travel home from a holiday in Tenerife and arrive back at Manchester Airport in the early hours of Monday 28 August. However, after hearing about all the travel drama at the reception of their hotel, they later received an email from easyJet informing them that their flight had been cancelled.

“We booked direct with easyJet but there was no communication directly to us, we just received the email saying the flight has been cancelled and there was no holiday rep [to help] and no one who spoke English for us to communicate with,” she explains.

“We tried to call customer service but got cut off, so we were left unsure even if the coach scheduled to take us back to the airport was going to pick us up.”

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Thankfully, their coach did arrive, but after apparently queuing for 45 minutes to board and arriving at the airport, they were then told by an easyJet employee to go back to the hotel whilst they waited to be assigned to a new flight.

“It was at our expense as they stated there were rooms available but when we returned there wasn’t any and when we asked for food vouchers, they said we weren’t allowed and were then told by easyJet to get on our transfers.”

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Natalie went on to explain how they had to settle for sitting on the airport floor and how her daughter had to re-wear dirty clothes from the holiday after all the travelling back and forth. Even after the medics arrived with the camp beds, along with some blankets, fruit and water, they obviously prioritised children, the elderly and people with disabilities first.

Fortunately, there were just enough beds for her and her family to use, but with Natalie and her family facing being in Tenerife until the next flight on Friday, it’s not the most comfortable of circumstances.

So like so many others in the same boat, the family have had to make alternative arrangements.

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“We have had to lend money from family to get us a BnB till Friday and a car rental because our flight lands us in Edinburgh and we’ve still heard no news from easyJet,” she said.

Sadly, their story is just one of countless Brits stuck abroad and those who were scheduled to fly out from the likes of Manchester and other airports are now heading home and simply looking to cancel bookings and get their money back.

The Manc has approached easyJet for a comment.

The airline has been sending some ‘rescue flights’ to various locations across Europe and said in an update that they have been “providing customers with assistance and hotel accommodation and advising anyone who has needed to make their own hotel or alternative travel arrangements that they will be reimbursed.”

At present, they are running a total of “five repatriation flights” from Palma, Faro, Tenerife, Enfidha and Rhodes to London Gatwick this week and have said, “We are also operating larger aircraft on key routes including Faro, Ibiza, Dalaman and Tenerife to provide some additional 700 seats this week.” Meanwhile, the press surrounding our local airport has gone from bad to worse in the last 24 hours or so…

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Featured Image — Natalie Wood (Supplied)/Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño (via Flickr)

News

Heartbreaking new figures show 35% of all children in the North West are living in poverty

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Schoolchildren in an assembly

35% of all children in the North West are currently living in poverty, some heartbreaking new figures have revealed.

Some new research carried out to understand regional levels of child poverty, conducted by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition, has sadly revealed over a third (35%) of all children in the North West are living in what is called ‘relative poverty’, after the cost of housing is considered – which is higher than the national average standing at 31%. 

Over in the Lancashire authority of Pendle, this figure reaches 45%, making it the second highest rate of all local authorities in the country.

In Greater Manchester, both Oldham and Manchester join Pendle in the list of the 10 council areas with the highest child poverty rates in the UK, as well as Blackburn with Darwen, and Hyndburn, and to make matters worse, the North West features on the list more times than any other region nationwide.

Rusholme was identified as the Manchester area with the highest percentage rating – with more than half (51.3%) of all children there living in poverty. 

88% of constituencies across the North West have a quarter of children in poverty.

This could lead to things like families being forced to use food banks, children going without warm clothes in winter, or living in cold or unsafe housing.

As a result of these shocking statistics being revealed, the End Child Poverty Coalition – which represents more than 135 organisations across the UK – is calling on the Government to meet its manifesto commitment to address these high levels of child poverty, not just in the North West but also across the rest of country. 

“These figures should demonstrate to Government just how important it is to quickly address this so       to prevent another generation of children from growing up in low-income families,” commented Rachel Walters, who is the End Child Poverty Coalition Manager.

“The Government’s strategy to tackle child poverty must invest in children in areas with higher levels of poverty, like the North West.”

Graham Whitham, who is a End Child Poverty Coalition spokesperson and the Chief Executive of Resolve Poverty, added: “No child should go without the things they need to be healthy and happy.

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“The Government’s forthcoming national Child Poverty Strategy must demonstrate a clear ambition to ending child poverty in this country, backed by specific targets and immediate investment in social security.”

Featured Image – RawPixel

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Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road to close for annual safety checks this weekend

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Mancunian Way at night

Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road is set to close this weekend while annual safety checks are carried out, it has been confirmed.

As Manchester City Council looks to maintain and improve what is, by far, one of Manchester’s busiest and most-used roads, given the fact it is the main thoroughfare in and out of the city centre, it has been confirmed that Mancunian Way is set to close overnight this weekend for its annual inspection.

Carried out every year, the Council explains that these closures ensure that ‘vital’ safety inspections can be conducted to allow the major road to continue operating as normal.

The overnight closure will take place from 7-8 June.

From 5am on Saturday (7 June), Mancunian Way will be closed in both directions along its entire length, including all slip roads, between the Chester Road roundabout and Fairfield Street, and this will last until 7pm on Sunday (8 June), after which the road will be open to traffic again as normal.

In the meantime while the closures are underway, the Council assures that a signed diversion route will be in place via the north and eastern ring road sections – Trinity Way and Great Ancoats Street – and a local diversion route will be signed via Bridgewater Street, Whitworth Street West, Whitworth Street, and Fairfield Street.

Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road Mancunian Way is closing for annual safety checks this weekend / Credit: Pixabay

During this period there will also be a lane closure east/westbound at the Deansgate Interchange between 6:30-9:30am, and the inbound lane of Princess Road (heading towards Manchester) between 6:30am and 11:15am.

As is to be expected with these kinds of tasks, Councillors say they are preparing for a ‘level of disruption’ but are intending to keep it to a minimum.

“The annual inspection of the Mancunian Way is a vital job which ensures that the tens of thousands of daily users of this road can go about their journey in safety,” explained Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment, and Transport.

“We do expect a level of disruption throughout this process so wherever possible we’d advise people to travel via public transport, or plan an alternate route ahead to avoid the work locations.

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“Safety will always be our number one priority and I’d like to say thank you in advance for the patience of road users during this period of works.”

Find out more information on this weekend’s Mancunian Way closures here.

Featured Image – Geograph

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