IT WAS a nightmare journey for 156 holidaymakers returning to Cork from Spain yesterday after their flight was initially delayed by eight hours only for them to have to spend the night in France. The plane had to make an emergency landing in Paris because of technical difficulties.
The Budget Travel passengers, who had holidayed in the Spanish resort of Salou, arrived at Cork Airport shortly after 5pm yesterday - 24 hours later than scheduled.
The passengers were due to take off from Reus Airport at 2.30pm on Monday, but because of technical difficulties charter flight FPO 926 did not depart until after 10pm.
Shortly after take off, passengers were told that, because of further complications, the captain had decided to divert the craft to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
John O'Connell, from Cathedral Road in Cork, who was travelling with his sister and her young child, said a full-scale emergency was declared as the plane came in to land at Charles de Gaulle shortly after midnight on Monday.
The passengers were told not to be alarmed, "but kids were screaming and people were really scared", he said.
The passengers stayed at a hotel at Charles de Gaulle on Monday night but many were without money and several elderly passengers were low on medication.
"People had already spent eight hours sitting in Reus in an airport with no air conditioning before the whole Paris thing happening. Nobody from Budget was there to help," said Mr O'Connell.
Mr O'Connell said that calls to Budget Travel went unanswered until Cork's 96FM and various media outlets intervened.
Sheila Griffin, from Mallow, Co Cork, criticised how she and her fellow passengers were treated by Budget Travel.
Ms Griffin was travelling with her 11-year-old daughter and two grandchildren, aged six and four. "The children are now terrified about going back on planes," she said. "They were screaming and crying. It was unbelievable. Budget Travel has not heard the last of this."
Passengers finally arrived at Cork Airport shortly after 5pm yesterday. Many said they intended to make formal complaints to Budget Travel.
A spokeswoman for Budget Travel apologised to passengers but insisted safety had to come first in these situations.
"For safety reasons the captain decided to divert the aircraft to Charles de Gaulle. The flight arrived in Paris and clients were accommodated overnight at the Ibis airport hotel," she said.
"Clients received breakfast . . . and lunch before they [ departed] for Cork. Budget Travel would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to clients as a result of this delay and trust that all involved appreciate that the health and safety of our customers is paramount in such situations."