Airline Small Planet has 170 passengers hanging in Crete

This is not how they imagined their holidays: instead of lying on the beach in Crete, Kilian Gerber * and his family must kill each other in a hotel in Basel. In fact, they should have left Saturday at 14:25 on Euroairport. However, the Lithuanian low-cost carrier Small Planet delayed the flight because of a technical defect – and finally canceled it completely.

To date, two days later, no replacement flights have been organized. "No one can reach the airline," says Gerber. "We do not know if we can fly in Crete". For this morning actually a flight would have been announced.

Bitter is the incident also for Jennifer Kuhn (23) and Eveline Blum (24). "We would have been in Crete for seven days," Kuhn told Blick. "Now we have to stay in Switzerland". Blum even plans to work this week – because they can be used well in the job.

welcomed 170 people in three hotels

The Euroairport confirms that the plane will not be on Saturday because of a technical problem initially arrived in Basel. "First, the airline postponed the flight the next day and then canceled it," spokeswoman Vivienne Gaskell said. It concerns about 170 passengers accommodated since Saturday in three hotels. The cost of overnight stays and meals would be entirely the responsibility of the airline.

"In our experience, such a case is rare at Euroairport," says Gaskell. "We are sorry for the passengers, who are looking forward to your vacation and unfortunately can not fly because of a technical problem with the plane."

Today at 6:30 the guests arrived at the entrance of the hotel as requested. But instead of a bus to the airport, they found only an English sign of the airline: The bus ride is canceled. We should wait for other information, which would follow around 14 hours. This was removed at noon but also again. "It's been going on for three days," says Gerber frustrated

"Absolute Disaster! Something is wrong! "

" Some of us were only planning a week-long vacation in Crete, "says Gerber. Short vacations are shortened every hour. "Some went home frustrated this morning."

Swiss tourists are not the only ones. Also German, who wanted to travel Saturday with Small Planet from Hamburg to Crete, stuck and report similar incidents. The title of an entry on the travel site "Tripadvisor" from yesterday to the case reads as follows: "Attention! Absolute disaster! There is something wrong! "

Kilian Gerber and his family have no choice but to stay at the hotel and wait for more information. He leaves the worst case: "I do not think we were coming to Crete, I'm not even sure we'll get our money back." He's tired of waiting at the hotel. let's spend the holidays on a campsite. "The others also have enough: When the information promised by the company fails, it will be released the group gets up, the people come home.

Not the first time

The Low-cost airline Small Planet is not making headlines for the first time this summer.At the beginning of July, 160 passengers in Graz (A) waited two days for their flight to Rhodes.The director of the airport from Graz, Gerhard Widmann, then told heute.at: "There are always delays, but we have never experienced anything like it." The airport had made an effort to accommodate the stranded passengers , but Small Planet had

* changed name

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Posted on 23.07.2018 | Last updated 17 minutes ago