Travel

Terrified Brits stuck in Hurghada due to coronavirus wait for emergency planes home


BRITISH holidaymakers stuck in Hurghada after the British government warned against “all but essential travel” are waiting on emergency planes to fly them home.

Travellers have spoken of chaos at the local airport as passengers were left stranded following plane cancellations.

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 Travellers have spoken of chaos at Hurghada airport as passengers were left stranded following plane cancellations

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Travellers have spoken of chaos at Hurghada airport as passengers were left stranded following plane cancellationsCredit: Rex Features

EasyJet customers claim they were told to turn up to the airport as soon as possible and that planes were on a first come, first served basis – but when they arrived, there were no easyJet staff available.

John Helfgott, 62, was on a diving holiday with a friend in the Red Sea resort and due to go home tomorrow.

But following the announcement by the British government yesterday advising Brits not to travel anywhere outside the UK for at least 30 days, he received a text from easyJet telling him to get to the airport as soon as possible.

He told Sun Online Travel: “We were notified out of the blue by our tour operator that they were curtailing the trip, then last night we were sent a message by easyJet telling us that they were cancelling our flights on the 19th.

“They said that they were sending out rescue flights on a first come, first served basis and that we should get to the airport as early as possible.”

John and his friend made their way to the airport the following morning along with hundreds of Brits who had received the same message – but when they arrived, there were no easyJet staff to be seen.

 John Helfgott, who is on a diving holiday in Hurghada, was told to get to the airport as soon as possible

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John Helfgott, who is on a diving holiday in Hurghada, was told to get to the airport as soon as possibleCredit: John Helfgott

He said: “We arrived at the airport with around 300 or 400 other people and there was no representation from easyJet at all – no communication whatsoever.

“Apparently their phones aren’t working, even our tour operator can’t get hold of them.”

After waiting for hours at the airport, John was told by an airport official that there were no flights back to the UK and they should go home for the day.
He was given a number for the airport to call the following day to check about flights, then returned back to the boat that he had been staying on for the past fortnight.

He said: “Fortunately, I still have another day on my boat and so we’ve been brought back to the marina but other people were saying their hotels have closed. It’s a nightmare.

“The only airlines flying to the UK are either TUI or easyJet, and TUI seem to be organising things as there were reps bussing people in, but easyjet were nowhere to be seen.”

 Hundreds of holidaymakers arrived at the airport, but they said they were no easyJet staff to be found

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Hundreds of holidaymakers arrived at the airport, but they said they were no easyJet staff to be foundCredit: Getty – Contributor

He continued: “We can’t leave Hurghada to go to Cairo and get a flight back to London because Hurghada is in lockdown.”

John and fellow easyJet passengers have since been told by the airline that rescue flights are being scheduled, although they have no idea exactly how long they will have to wait.

EasyJet told Sun Online Travel: “We are currently working on a rescue flight programme for Egypt for the coming days which we will publish as soon as we can.”

Last week, Brits stranded in Italy were told they had to travel to Switzerland if they wanted to get home, which meant epic road or rail journeys for many and travelling through northern Italy.

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On Monday, thousands of Brits were stranded in Spain after the country entered a two-week coronavirus lockdown.

Troops have been stationed at airports following the government’s decision to impose emergency Covid-19 measures – forcing expats and tourists to stay in their homes.

TUI has announced that it is suspending hotel stays, package holidays and cruises until further notice.

Center Parcs are also closing all of their UK villages from March 20 until April 16.

The travel company announced that they were making the decision in light of the latest government advice on coronavirus.

The Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to anywhere in the world to stop the spread of the virus, but for those Brits who still need to travel, here are the restrictions that countries are putting in UK citizens.





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