Fuming sunseekers have vowed never to fly with TUI again after being stranded at Gatwick Airport.
The holidaymakers were diverted away from their intended destinations after a hot week in the sun due to lengthy delays and airport restrictions.
Among those affected were Gary and Julie Pick, who are battling to win compensation after a nightmare journey from Turkey.
The couple, aged 65 and 60, faced hours of delays when travelling from Antalya in Turkey bound for Bournemouth.
They were told while in the air that it was too late to land at Bournemouth and the plane would be diverted to London Gatwick.
Airports such as Bournemouth do not run 24 hours per day, meaning there may not be the staff to welcome an arriving flight late at night. In this case, the flight was diverted to Gatwick Airport which can accept flights throughout all of the night.
(Image: Gareth Fuller / PA) But when the plane finally landed, Gary said almost 200 passengers were left stranded, dressed in shorts and flip-flops, with children crying and no coaches for them.
“It was absolute carnage there, people were pushing, shoving and shouting,” said Gary.
“TUI just don’t seem to care.”
Eventually, the couple booked their own taxi with two other people and took the 100-mile journey to arrive home at 4.30am.
Gary added: “We fly from Bournemouth because it’s convenient and we live here, so we’re prepared to pay a premium price for that. If we wanted the cheapest holiday we would have gone to Gatwick.
Bournemouth Airport only operates until 9.30pm
“It was shocking, we’re never going with TUI again if this is how they treat us.”
Read more: Gatwick braces itself for busiest summer in five years
The airline said passengers must contact their travel insurance providers to make a claim - and that minibuses were arranged due to the shortage of coaches.
A spokesman said: "We’d like to sincerely apologise to passengers who were impacted by the diversion of flight TOM655 from Antalya to Bournemouth due to air travel control restrictions.
"Unfortunately this delayed departure meant that Bournemouth Airport was closed and the flight had to divert to London Gatwick.
“We completely understand that diversions of this nature are frustrating and it's not how we want our customers’ holidays to end."
Gary and his wife Julie are not the only ones impacted, however. Mia White, 44, and her family endured a 16-hour-long journey back to their home in Bournemouth where they were meant to land.
They arrived at Rhodes Diagoras Airport at 6pm ready for their flight to Bournemouth at 9.35pm on July 20, but a three-hour delay meant the plane was instead due to leave at midnight.
At around 11pm Mia’s husband saw their flight would be arriving at Gatwick, instead of Bournemouth, with no direct communication from the airline.
After finally arriving to Gatwick, the family managed to squeeze onto the one and only coach waiting for the plane load of passengers and did not arrive home until 7am.
“I will never fly with TUI or Bournemouth Airport again,” said Mia.
A spokesman for Bournemouth Airport said the operating hours are "aligned with scheduled flights" and are built with flexibility to accommodate delays and diversions.
The airport added: "As the airport looks forward to the upcoming increase in operators, flights and destinations from Bournemouth, operational support will be scaled up as required to meet this growth in activity."
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