A newlywed British couple have described their honeymoon ‘nightmare’ after the British air traffic control meltdown left them stranded in the “wrong country”.
Tarik Rami and Beatriz Oliveira, of Feltham, West London were married in Lisbon, Portugal and were planning to spend a week in Mauritius after a few days stop over in South Africa.
But their honeymoon flight to Johannesburg via London was grounded by a massive computer failure at the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
British Airways rebooked them on to new flights via Paris, but they arrived in the French capital to discover there was no record of the booking.
“When we landed in Paris, Air France had no idea where our ticket was, they did not have us on the system,” Beatriz told ITV News.
The couple were forced to two nights in Paris before abandoning their travel plans and returning to London by train.
Beatriz said: “It’s turned out to be like a nightmare because we should have been in our honeymoon already and we’ve just lost two, now three days and we’re basically going to be in one of the destinations for just one day.”
Tarik added: “In terms of the impact, it’s obviously not the honeymoon I promised Beatriz. I think what’s more frustrating more than anything is that accountability doesn’t seem to be the strong suit of the airlines or indeed the holiday company’.
The couple said their insurers have told them their honeymoon is covered but it is not clear who is liable.
In a statement British Airways said: “Like other airlines operating in the UK, we are continuing to experience the knock-on effects of NATS Air Traffic Control issue, which includes unavoidable delays and cancellations.
“We’ve apologised for the huge inconvenience caused, which was outside of our control and thank our customers for their patience as we work hard to get back on track.”
Tariq and Beatriz are expected in Mauritius anytime.
Original article at ITV News
