Alison Shah and her partner Richard Kay were coming home from her 60th birthday trip to Bangkok and Thailand when they got stuck in Dubai and their ordeal began
It was a luxury holiday of celebration that turned into a nightmare. Alison Shah had celebrated her big birthday in style with a month-long trip to countries including Bangkok and Thailand when she tried to get home with her partner Richard Kay, 52, and chaos ensued.
The couple finally made it home after a three-day trek but their ordeal has made them vow ‘never again’. “I have never experienced anything like this,” said Alison. “We paid a lot of money for the holiday and it has ended in a nightmare.”
The couple had flown from Thailand to Dubai last April to find the airport in turmoil due to severe storms, with their plane circling above the airport for an hour and a half before it was able to land. They had a few hours to wait until flying to Manchester.
READ MORE:
Pontins holiday ruined by ‘drunk parents and drugs everywhere’ in nightmare Southport stay
“Finally at 8am, we started to board the plane, the plane was there,” said Alison. “We then sat there for two and a half hours in the holding area waiting to get on the plane. Nobody was answering any questions and people were getting frantic.”
The couple’s frustration peaked when they were informed of their flight had been cancelled. “We were then told our flight was cancelled and we had to leave the airport,” added the emergency control operator. “We went back the following day and joined another queue for seven and a half hours.
“We were waiting to board the plane and it kept saying delayed, delayed, delayed. The screen changed from Manchester to Sydney and they sent us away again.”
After spending money on a hotel stay, the couple faced further uncertainty at the airport the next day when they were offered a flight to Manchester on April 28 – 12 days after they were meant to head back home. “We couldn’t do that. We had to go to work and we had already been out of the country for a month,” Alison said.
“I asked if they could get us to another airport, if I could get near the UK I could work it out. They got us a flight to Istanbul.”
But their ordeal wasn’t over – landing in Istanbul on April 19, Alison and Richard were greeted with the news that their luggage had gone missing, meaning they had to buy clothes there. The couple then made their way from Istanbul to Dalaman, Turkey, on Saturday in hopes of catching a flight to Manchester.
“We’re pleased to be home, but really really upset not to be able to give the grandchildren the gifts and open the cases and do what you normally do when you get home,” Alison said.
“We are relieved to be back, when we walked in and my granddaughter was looking after the pets we had a nice welcome home. “The relief of being home is mixed with the upset with not feeling normal. We’re home but it is not over as we still have no luggage.”
Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, penned an open letter at the time of the disruption, which said: “The UAE experienced its highest rainfall in 75 years. Storm winds and torrential rain disrupted activities across the cities.
“While our hub in Dubai continued to operate, albeit with reduced flight movements for safety reasons, the flooded roads hampered our customers, pilots, cabin crew, and airport employees from getting to the airport, and also affected the delivery of essential supplies like meals and other flight amenities..
“We know our response has been far from perfect. We acknowledge and understand the frustration of our customers due to the congestion, lack of information, and confusion in terminals. We acknowledge that the long queues and waiting times have been unacceptable.”