Punch Up On BA Plane

The Independent reports that there was a punch up and vomiting on one of their Heathrow bound flights after a series of technical faults caused delays and an unpleasant stop over in Riyadh.

BA has apologised to Heathrow-bound customers who twice had to return to a baking-hot Saudi Arabian airport due to a faulty plane.

There were reports of passengers being sick and of fights breaking out as one BA worker tried to deal with more than 300 passengers back at Riyadh airport.

Boeing 747 first had to turn back to Riyadh on Wednesday due to a problem with the wing flaps. Then when the same plane took off yesterday following repairs the same problem reoccurred and the aircraft had to fly back to Riyadh.

One passenger, Dean Jones, told the online Daily Mail that in the terminal at Riyadh there was “mayhem” as just one BA worker tried to deal with more than 300 passengers while other ground crew “hid' in a back office.

He went on: “Fights broke out and the military turned up.

“We were furious they put us back up in the plane when they knew there was a serious problem. BA customer relations have been useless.”

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BA's Lock In At Marco Polo Airport

My sympathies to the 140 UK bound passengers who were forced to bed down for the night at Venice's Marco Polo airport.

As per the BBC:

 

British Airways has apologised after about 140 UK-bound passengers spent the night at a Venice airport because cabin crew had worked their maximum hours.

They slept on the floor of Marco Polo Airport without food and and drink after their flight to London Gatwick left with no passengers on board.

BA said it could not find hotel rooms for passengers or the cabin crew.

It said the passengers, who have now boarded a replacement aircraft back to London, would be given compensation.

Wednesday's flight had been due to take off shortly after 22:30 (20:30 GMT) but was delayed due to a technical fault.

This meant the crew had already worked their maximum hours for the day, even though the pilots were able to fly the plane back to London. 

The passengers, including a number of children, spent the night at the airport - with some suggesting that staff locked the doors and locked up their luggage.

Kat Davis, from Hemel Hempstead, was at the airport for 14 hours.

"It was a ghost town," she told BBC London radio.

"They locked up the airport. They told us just before the staff left that the airport was locked and we couldn't leave. 

"Our bags were all locked up. There were people who had medication in bags and they couldn't get to it. There was a young family who couldn't get to children's stuff in a suitcase as well."

Passengers say they have had no contact from the airline. 

In a statement, BA said: "We're very sorry for the disruption faced by our customers and will work with them to provide compensation. We always do everything we can to avoid an overnight flight delay, but when this happens we offer hotel accommodation to those travelling with us.

"Unfortunately, due to the volume of visitors to Venice we could not secure any rooms for our customers or cabin crew.

"The aircraft due to operate the flight to Gatwick was delayed into Venice because of a technical fault earlier in the day. Unfortunately this meant that the cabin crew responsible for the safety of our customers had exceeded their available working hours, and were unable to operate the flight back to London. The two pilots were still within their hours and returned the aircraft to London.

"We have sent a replacement aircraft to Venice this morning to carry those affected customers back to Gatwick."


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BA's Refugee Camp

Whilst BA and BAA argue with each other over who is to blame for the chaos at Heathrow caused by the current snowy conditions, BA have set up a "refugee camp" for stranded/delayed passengers.
 
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