AN AMESBURY family was left “heartbroken” when their 6am flight to Menorca was cancelled an hour before check-in.

Pharmaceutical auditor Beth Chapman had been looking forward to this family holiday since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, with husband Chris and six-year-old son Harry, as well as her parents, siblings and niece.

Travelling to Gatwick airport Saturday morning however, the 38-year-old soon discovered the trip would not be going ahead as planned.

This comes as travel company Tui announced a “small number” of flight cancellations and delays earlier this week, with “various operational and supply chain issues” to blame.

Beth told the Journal: “My mum got the [Tui cancellation] email and she was lucky to see it, not everyone has their phone or notifications on at the airport.

"She rang me to let me know and it didn’t feel real, I just couldn’t believe this was happening.

“We had been through so much to get to this holiday, and because we were nearly there we just felt nothing could go wrong.

"We met up at the hotel and just sat for an hour gobsmacked, we didn’t know what to do, we ended up just going back to bed.”

The family was unable to book a new holiday for the same dates and price, especially with further travel chaos across UK airports and other surgical commitments, so are now waiting for a refund.

“This was going to be Harry’s first time abroad,” Beth said, “he was upset but I am so proud of him for how he acted. This whole thing was heart breaking.”

Beth claims the family were not given an official reason for the sudden cancellation, aside from “unforeseen circumstances”.

She said: “We’ve been quite lucky compared to some others, some have been sat on the plane to be told it’s not going ahead. There are so many people that have worse situations than ours.

“We just wanted some reasons to understand better, it would have softened the blow a bit.

“The excitement has been taken away now and it’s just not going to feel the same organising the next holiday.”

Referencing Beth’s flight in particular, a Tui spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to our customers who were due to travel on flight TOM4640 from Gatwick to Menorca on Saturday, May 28, which was unfortunately cancelled due to operational issues.

“Customers affected by flight cancellations will receive a full refund for their holiday within 14 days.

"The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and we understand that they will have been looking forward to these holidays for a long time.”

The Tui spokesperson added “an increase in people going on holiday”, combined with “various operational and supply chain issues”, are factors behind the ongoing cancellation crisis.

They said: “Our teams have been working tirelessly to support affected customers, through direct communications and providing overnight accommodation and transfers where needed, as well as meals and refreshments.

“We continue to work closely with our airport partners to monitor the situation and provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers.

"We’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding at this time.”

Tui now fears airport chaos could last the entire summer, with six flights a day being cancelled in June.

  • Have you been affected by the recent flight cancellations? Email your story to newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk

Get more Salisbury news. 

You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date, as well as signing up for one of our newsletters.

If you want online news with fewer ads, unlimited access and reader rewards - plus a chance to support our local journalism - find out more about registering or a digital subscription.

Email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk with your comments, pictures, letters and news stories.