THE BRITISH Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that runs the ATOL travel protection scheme has been continuing to arrange flights back to the UK for XL passengers stranded in Cyprus.
Yesterday, two aircraft left Larnaca for the UK as part of one of the largest repatriation operations in modern tourism history.
A specially arranged Boeing 757 aircraft to Bristol departed at 2.30pm yesterday with over 150 passengers on board and at 7.15pm a second repatriation flight took off for East Midlands Airport.
In stark contrast to the chaotic scenes witnessed at the airport on Sunday, the departures section was relatively calm, with all flights running to schedule throughout yesterday afternoon into the evening.
Paul Lakin from the British High Commission said that despite the difficult circumstances most people were now getting return flights without hindrance.
“There has been a steady flow of people arriving all day, with an occasional surge of passengers turning up. Most people have been put on repatriation flights or have been squeezed onto other flights. We do have a standby list of about 30 people that will probably be ferried to Paphos airport later to catch another flight home,” he said.
A customer service representative from Hermes Airports said that the airport was “getting back to normal” after a very busy week.
However, CAA spokesman Nick Stevenson told the Cyprus Mail that future flight times and details may sometimes vary from the information published on their website as the situation was constantly changing.
“Things do change in operations like this, as well as arranging repatriation flights; we put customers on existing flights that are not fully booked. We have been using a fair number of previously scheduled flights that are not full to bring people home,” he said.
Stevenson also confirmed that a third flight from Larnaca was scheduled to leave early this morning for London Gatwick.
“We do have a Jet 2 flight scheduled for early Thursday morning with a capacity of 200 people – that is the latest information we have regarding Cyprus.”
In a separate development, the CAA last night advised customers affected by the failure of XL not to cut their trips short.
“Some holidaymakers are going straight to the airport and even buying flights home with other airlines when they should have continued their holidays as normal,” a spokesman noted.
Staff from the British High Commission have been present at Larnaca airport for the past few days to assist any passengers that are seeking help.
Stuck in Cyprus? What you need to know
People on package holidays in Cyprus who booked through the XL group’s UK businesses, including those who booked a flight with its Freedom Flights operation, will be flown home at no extra cost by the CAA once it has made the arrangements.
If you booked a package tour or flight with another tour company which had planned to use an XL flight, then that operator will also make alternative arrangements for you.
Get in contact with them directly.
The CAA emergency helpline for customers stranded in Cyprus is +44 2891 856547 or check http://www.caa.co.uk
Customers who booked with the XL call centre or the XL website and who want to claim money back should contact the administrators Kroll. Kroll’s helpline is +44 800 068 8991
