"Air France had no idea where our ticket was"
A newlywed couple were supposed to be enjoying their honeymoon, however, it turned into a “nightmare” after the British air traffic control meltdown left them stranded in the wrong country.
Tarik Rami and Beatriz Oliveira, of London, got married in Portugal’s capital Lisbon.
They were planning to spend five days in South Africa followed by a further week in Mauritius.
However, their honeymoon flight to Johannesburg via London was ground by a massive computer failure at the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
This grounded hundreds of flights and left tens of thousands of people stranded.
British Airways rebooked the couple onto new flights via Paris.
But when they arrived in Paris, they discovered there was no record of the booking.
Beatriz said: “We did get to Paris and then when we got here, it was yesterday at 6 pm, Air France had no idea where our ticket was, they did not have us on the system.
“Air France and British Airways were trying from 6 pm until 11:30 in the evening to sort out the ticket and then at 11:30 they said the flight is going to depart in half an hour so ‘there’s no way you’re getting on it because first it’s fully booked and second we don’t have any booking for you on our system’.”
The couple were forced to spend a night in a Paris airport hotel before abandoning their travel plans and returning to London by train.
Beatriz continued: “It’s turned out to be like a nightmare because we should have been in our honeymoon already and we’ve just lost two, now three days and we’re basically going to be in one of the destinations for just one day.”
Tarik added:
“In terms of the impact, it’s obviously not the honeymoon I promised Beatriz.”
“I think what’s more frustrating more than anything is that accountability doesn’t seem to be the strong suit of the airlines or indeed the holiday company.”
The couple said their insurers have told them their honeymoon is covered but it is unclear who is liable.
In a statement, British Airways said: “Like other airlines operating in the UK, we are continuing to experience the knock-on effects of NATS Air Traffic Control issue, which includes unavoidable delays and cancellations.
“Customers travelling today on short-haul services can move their flight to a later date free of charge if they wish, subject to availability.
“We’ve apologised for the huge inconvenience caused, which was outside of our control and thank our customers for their patience as we work hard to get back on track.”
Tariq and Beatriz are now hoping to complete their journey to Johannesburg after first travelling back to London on the Eurostar.
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