‘Birmingham 25’ seek answers to travel chaos

A number of air services were hit as Storm Eunice hit the UK.

Among them was the GR704 to Birmingham, which was due to depart Guernsey just after 5pm. The flight was cancelled just after 9pm.

Passengers were booked on a new flight on Saturday morning, but this too was then cancelled. The passengers were put on a flight to Gatwick instead and were coached to Birmingham.

In an open letter sent to the media by a group of passengers entitling themselves the ‘Birmingham 25’, they have challenged Aurigny CEO Nico Bezuidenhout to explain the ‘poor treatment’ received.

‘The level of incompetence is not, as we suspect will be floated, the weather, but a complete lack of customer service, honesty, and competency,’ they wrote.

‘As many have stated, we have been held hostage by Aurigny as it is the only airline to afford transportation off-island.

‘As a fairy tale, this is a tale of mental distress, loss of trust, and communication inadequacies all of which has led to a collaborative loss of faith in Aurigny.’

In response to queries yesterday, Aurigny confirmed it had been in touch with the letter writers and was looking into the details of their experiences.

The letter described how passengers were given limited information on the Friday evening and when the flight was cancelled they had to wait 50 minutes before being able to rebook for Saturday morning.

The travellers praised the two Aurigny staff on the check-in desks for their work, but questioned why a duty manager was never present.

When the passengers arrived on Saturday morning, the flight was delayed and then cancelled. Instead Aurigny offered to fly them to Gatwick and coach them to Birmingham.

The letter writers said when they arrived at Gatwick, they were taken to the international arrivals door and had to go through passport control, despite passports not being required for travel within the Common Travel Area.

When they arrived at the Aurigny desk at Gatwick, the letter writers said, the staff there were dismayed and anxious.

‘Anxious due to the fact they had no idea we were on a flight to Gatwick, nor that a coach was required to transport passengers to Birmingham.’

A coach arrived at 1pm, but no Aurigny representative was present and the coach driver had no passenger manifest.

‘The passengers ensured as many as we knew were present and boarded the coach. Without a manifest and an Aurigny operative, how do you know passengers were not left behind in Gatwick?’

The coach took the group to Birmingham, arriving at about 4pm – nearly 24 hours after they set off.

The passengers wrote the joint letter on the coach to Birmingham to share their dissatisfaction.