Stranded – and kept in the dark

Tuesday 3rd February 2009, 2:29PM GMT.

FRUSTRATED passengers were yesterday stranded at the airport until it opened at 2.30pm.

Snow prevented aircraft from landing or taking-off and little information was available from the airlines about when flights would resume, according to Fortis group commercial director Rick Denton.

He had arrived at 6am hoping to get on the red-eye Flybe to Gatwick.

‘I tried to call Flybe but their call centre is in the UK and does not open till 8.30am,’ he said.

‘If you went online there was no information posted and not on teletext either. If this happens again it would be really helpful to have more local information,’ he said.

Randalls employee Matt Henney was due to fly to Birmingham for a brewing course.

‘I am meant to already be there and learning now, but apparently the lecturer was delayed as well,’ he said.