More than 180 Vueling passengers who were due to fly from Lanzarote to Zurich this Saturday suffered several hours of delay at Guacimeta airport. The reason, according to a Lanzarote agency that had purchased tickets for a group of 49 people, is that the plane sent by the airline was "too small" and there was no room for all passengers. According to other travelers to La Voz, this has not been the only recent mishap of Vueling in Lanzarote, which since July 1 has been experiencing cancellations and delays throughout Spain. This media has repeatedly requested information from the company, but it has not provided it. And Aena, which manages the airports, has not wanted to provide data either.
The incident this Saturday began as a mere delay. According to the relative of one of the passengers to La Voz, upon arriving at the airport they were able to verify that the departure was scheduled with a two-hour delay. Thus, this traveler decided to return home and return at 5:00 p.m. On that second occasion, this passenger checked "again" his luggage and prepared to board the plane. And the passengers even got on the bus that was supposed to take them along the runway to the aircraft. However, after more than half an hour waiting inside the bus, they were informed that "by order of the commander, they could not board."
The travelers were then taken back to the terminal, says this traveler, who states that at no time were they informed of the reasons for the delay. Once back at the airport, they were informed of the "options." They could fly to Barcelona and board "the next day" to Zurich or stay on the ground and have the ticket refunded. It was already "close to 9 p.m.", so this passenger chose to "refuse to go" to Barcelona and purchase a direct ticket for the next day, not without first waiting another "two hours" for his suitcase to be returned.
La Voz de Lanzarote has finally managed to find out the reasons for those hours of waiting through the travel agency La Molina, given that 49 people had purchased their trip to Switzerland through this company. For its part, Vueling has not provided La Voz with its version of what happened, despite repeated requests from this media. Nor has Aena, which when asked about the incidents that the airline has been experiencing since the beginning of this month, has referred to the company.
Diverted to Barcelona, with no relocation date and no luggage
"They didn't put the plane they were supposed to put, they sent a smaller one and not everyone fit," explain from the travel agency La Molina. This was the explanation they say they were given from Vueling. Specifically, the agency points out, the airline sent an Airbus with capacity for 146 people, but the passengers it was supposed to transport were more than 180, as there were 136 travelers in addition to the group of 49 people from La Molina.
Their clients were traveling accompanied by a guide, who was the one who proposed to the company an alternative solution so that the group could reach their destination. This guide "knew" that a flight that would later head to the Italian capital was due to arrive in Guacimeta, so after "talking it over" with his clients, he proposed to the company "the possibility of doing it via Rome."
"The rest were offered to go to Barcelona without luggage," because the airline "cannot exceed a certain amount of weight," explains an employee of this travel agency. According to her, the company offered them the option of flying to El Prat airport and from there to Zurich, although without knowing "when they could be relocated" to get to Switzerland.
Delays and cancellations throughout Spain
This incident could be related to the problems that Vueling has been experiencing since July 1, coinciding with the start of the summer campaign. On the first weekend of this month, some 8,000 passengers of the company suffered cancellations and another 56,000 suffered delays in their trips, according to the newspaper El Confidencial. La Voz de Lanzarote is aware of at least one relevant delay on that first weekend. It was a flight that was due to leave Guacimeta for Barcelona on Friday, July 1 at noon and ended up taking off with more than 6 hours of delay, according to one of its passengers.
The company's problems are apparently due to poor planning for the high season. As a result of these incidents, Vueling has had to rent planes and hire emergency crews, including pilots, to be able to handle all the operations it had scheduled. In fact, the Ministry of Development itself forced the company to implement a contingency plan that is supervised by the State Aviation Safety Agency.