“TUI Fly Belgium Delays Flights Due to Technical Defect Stranding Passengers for Almost 48 Hours”

The flight ‘TUI fly TB 3012’ was scheduled to depart from the tourist resort of Hurghada on Monday evening at 8 pm, to land at Brussels Airport around 0.50 am that same evening.

“Yesterday evening (Monday, ed.) However, we were told that the flight would no longer depart due to a technical defect,” says passenger Tom Waterschoot. “We were taken to a hotel where we spent the night. This afternoon (Tuesday, ed.) We were taken back to the airport.”

However, the plane was still not ready to take off. “According to the new schedule, we would leave on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to land at Brussels Airport around 11 p.m.,” continues Tom Waterschoot. But at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the group of passengers was still sitting at the airport without any information. “Disgraceful,” it sounds. “We feel badly let down.”

A little later, around 9.45 p.m., a text message from TUI fly followed. It reported a new departure time, Wednesday, May 3 at 2 p.m., or almost 48 hours later than the original departure time. Whether everything will turn out as expected on Wednesday remains to be seen. Many passengers do not want to go home on a plane with a technical problem that is apparently so difficult to solve.

Tui spokesman Piet Demeyere confirms that there is a technical defect. “A technician was specially flown over from Belgium,” says Demeyere. “We don’t wish such a delay on anyone.” TUI fly convened a crisis meeting on Tuesday evening about the fate of the affected passengers.

In addition to two – mandatory – extra nights in Egypt, they also received vouchers for something to eat and drink at the airport in Hurghada. However, as time ticked on, dissatisfaction increased. “There is a lot of frustration because of the lack of communication,” says Tom Waterschoot, who himself had to sit on another flight for work on Wednesday. That will unfortunately not work.

Tensions rose at the airport early Tuesday evening, with angry passengers turning on airport staff. “Weeping children, weeping mothers, … not to behold. Many passengers refuse to fly back on the same plane that has been worked on for hours, but which they cannot get right. Why don’t Tui just put us on another flight?” Calm returned later in the evening. So everyone was very tired.

“None of us see it positively yet”, another passenger confirms to us via the tip line 4040. “There are families with babies, with several children, … and just arranging extra days of vacation at work is not easy to to get around.”

LOOK. Riots broke out on a Brussels Airlines flight in December when passengers were told just before they arrived in Tenerife that they would fly back to Brussels