TUI flight cancelled: Holidaymakers suffer 50-hour delay at Corfu airport after global IT outage cancels flight to Manchester
UK holidaymakers suffered a 50-hour delay at Corfu airport after the global IT outage cancelled their flight.
The British holidaymakers were left stranded on the Greek island of Corfu for an entire weekend after their flight to Manchester was cancelled. The flight was due to depart at 2.20pm on Friday (19 July) but passengers said they were still waiting at the airport late Sunday afternoon (21 July).
Passengers told Manchester Evening News they were instructed to book their own hotels for two nights amid the chaos, while others spent the entire weekend at the airport. One said: “It was horrendous, there were people everywhere. Some had to stand outside in 35C heat because the airport was so busy. Everyone was queuing because the flights were all delayed.
“Eventually we got an email saying the flight was cancelled completely and that accommodation was being arranged, but when we got to the Tui desk, they told us they couldn't find us a hotel because there were so many guests and the island was at capacity, and that we had to sort it ourselves. Everyone is just miserable and angry. It has been a nightmare.”
Another passenger wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday: “Still stuck in Corfu after Friday's TOM2519 to Manchester was cancelled. Promised a 12pm flight home after two days of hell. Now we are sitting in departures and the flight has been delayed: no new departure time. After 48hrs of Tui's abhorrent treatment we need information.”
A rescheduled flight was due to leave Corfu at 5.25pm on Sunday, Manchester Evening News reported - 51 hours later than the original departure time. Thousands of flights were cancelled worldwide after an update to CrowdStrike cybersecurity software caused a widespread IT outage on Friday. Global banks, airlines, hospitals and government offices were disrupted by the IT outage.
In a statement on Sunday, Tui said: “Following the global IT issue impacting businesses around the world, we would like to apologise to everyone affected. Whilst the original it issue was outside of our control, the impact to our systems has meant that our flight programming continues to suffer delays and cancellations.