By John Leonidou
SCORES of holidaymakers destined for Crete, have had their holidays cut short after not agreeing to an alternative flight when the Hellas Jet plane they were set to travel with broke down.
Meanwhile, in Greece, around 80 elderly couples were yesterday left stranded as Hellas Jet was unable to accommodate them with an alternative flight back to Cyprus.
The 140 passengers were initially set to depart on Wednesday with a Hellas Jet flight, but a technical problem left the plane grounded and the passengers stranded at the airport.
The passengers returned to the airport at 5am yesterday morning and were informed by airline officials that because the plane was still experiencing difficulties they would have to travel with a Ukrainian airline.
The majority of passengers refused, with some demanding a refund whilst other demanded that they be given another airline to travel with to Crete. The standoff meant the passengers were left a further seven hours at the departure lounge.
They were eventually taken by bus to the Hilton Hotel in Nicosia but returned to the airport at 5am on Thursday morning and were informed by airline officials that because the plane was still experiencing difficulties, they could still travel with the Ukrainian airline.
With their plane still grounded in its third day, the offer was again snubbed and by now tensions were mounting.
As of 11.50pm on Thursday night, it was announced that there would be no Hellas Jet flights. Yesterday’s departure monitors at the airports didn’t have any scheduled flight for Hellas Jet.
Meanwhile, 78 elderly couples who had flown with Hellas Jet for a holiday in Bulgaria via Kavala in Greece, have since Thursday been trying to get back to Cyprus.
Most of the passengers were still stranded at the airport in Greece.
Commenting on the saga yesterday, Commerce Ministry official Marios Droushiotis said that if the organiser was aware of alterations to flight schedules and did not notify the passengers, then the airline was to blame.
“In this case, legislation says that in instances where there are alterations to an organised trip and they know it, then they are obliged to notify their customers and give them the chance to exclude themselves from the changes or to propose them another change and to make them sign that they agree to that effect.”
Civil Aviation Transportation Operator Doros Theodorou added: “With regards to Hellas Jet, the details we got were that there was a technical problem to the aircraft and that it caused a delay. In these cases, European law offers protection to the passengers and, more specifically with regards to this incident, they are allowed compensation or a refund or an alternative flight.”
Theodorou went on to say that a passenger could refuse to fly with another aircraft, but could only then claim a refund if a complaint was made to the registrar at the Civil Aviation Department. The registrar would then examine complaint and see if the airline was at fault.
“If that is the case, then the passenger will be compensated,” he said.
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