'Stranded' mum and daughter forced to pay £730 to get home after KLM flight axed
A mum and her daughter were left stranded in an airport after their flight was cancelled amid air traffic control chaos.
Leigh Elsaghier is still battling with Dutch airline KLM, which refused to repay her expenses when she and her 14-year-old daughter were left 'stranded' at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport after their flight to Newcastle was grounded.
The mum says she is 'utterly disgusted' at the way her complaint has been handled by KLM. The airline told her to pay for food, drink and accommodation as the voucher machine in the airport was broken, then turned down her receipts when she sent them as she says she was told to do.
After being contacted by Chronicle Live, the airline agreed to pay the £730 Leigh had run up on her credit card. However, the next day the airline sent her an email saying their original decision to reject her claim would not be changed.
The mum and daughter's problems began when they arrived at Schiphol in the early evening of August 28 and found out at around 10pm on the same night that their scheduled flight to Newcastle International Airport had been cancelled due to air traffic control failure in UK airspace.
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(Newcastle Chronicle)Leigh, a 45-year-old deputy headteacher, contacted KLM for help. "We sought advice and help from the KLM team and there were no available flights for us to book," she said.
"We were told the voucher machine was broken, so KLM could not issue vouchers for food or for a hotel, which we were entitled to receive under EU law. It was clear to me that the KLM team were not trained or prepared in any way for such an event and didn't really know what to do.
"They booked us onto a flight 48 hours later, on August 30, from Amsterdam to Edinburgh at 21.50pm, with no onward transport to Newcastle. We do not live in Edinburgh, had not paid for a flight to Edinburgh and Edinburgh is 97 miles from Newcastle. When I complained, KLM staff at the airport told me to cancel the Edinburgh flight and make our own arrangements, which KLM assured me the company would reimburse as they said all airlines have a legal duty to return you to your original destination."
Leigh went on to book a hotel for the night and bought a cheap meal on her credit card. "I felt we had no alternative, other than to quite literally sleep in the street or on the floor of the airport. This is clearly totally unsuitable for a child and I was aghast that KLM thought it was appropriate, which is what it communicated to me by refusing to compensate my expenses," the mum explained.
"I then booked an overnight ferry for the following night which returned us to Newcastle. We arrived in Newcastle over 24 hours before we would have done flying to Edinburgh, which would have incurred a further two-night stay as well as a train to Newcastle, which would have been of much more cost to KLM.
"I paid for the costs associated with this on my credit card because I didn't have the money to pay for it. I still don't. I do not have £730. I shouldn't have to pay for it. This was not my error and I did not receive the customer service I was entitled to."
After applying for her expenses to be repaid, Leigh received a letter saying she would receive £50.40 'because I had cancelled the flight to Edinburgh'.
She said: "KLM were unable to provide us with an alternative flight to our original destination. I did what I was told to do by the KLM manager on duty on August 28 at Schiphol. This information to not cancel one's flight was not contained within the disruption information supplied to us at the airport nor is it included on KLM's website information page.
"To make matters worse, we have kept in touch with another passenger who was affected by the same cancelled flight to Newcastle and he booked on to the same ferry as us, and his expenses have been reimbursed when ours have not."
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The airline agreed to pay all of Leigh's expenses after the newspaper got in contact. At the time a spokesperson for the airline said: "KLM regrets the difficulties that Ms Elsaghier and her daughter faced when travelling from Nice to Newcastle via Amsterdam on 28 August 2023. Their flight from Amsterdam to Newcastle was cancelled due to the air traffic control system failure in the UK and thousands of passengers had to be rebooked and accommodated in Amsterdam. KLM is totally aware of its liability under the EU/UK 261 regulation and therefore will refund the hotel expenses and meals in Amsterdam."
"KLM fulfilled its obligation by rebooking its passengers on a flight to the UK, however, due to all flights being full on the 29 of August, the next available flight was 48 hours later. KLM understands the reason why Ms Elsaghier chose to return to Newcastle via ferry. In situations such as these, costs should be recovered via the passengers' travel insurance, nevertheless, in view of the great inconvenience faced by Ms Elsaghier and her daughter, as a gesture of goodwill, KLM will refund the ferry expenses. KLM's customer care team will contact Ms Elsaghier'."
However, the next day Leigh received an email from KLM customer care which threw doubt on KLM's promise to settle the expenses, stating: "I write in reference to your recent communication dated 16 October 2023, wherein you are dissatisfied with our initial response. We would like to inform you that, having reviewed your file thoroughly, we are afraid that we cannot constructively add to our previous correspondence."
KLM has since promised to "stand by our statement that we issued and that we will offer to refund the accommodation and meal costs as well as costs incurred to return to Newcastle by Ms Elsaghier."
Leigh said: "KLM are an absolute disgrace. I won't believe anything they say until the money is back in my bank account."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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