TUI flight U-turns over Atlantic with hundreds of passengers stranded for 24 hours

A Manchester-bound flight made a U-turn over the Atlantic, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded for 24 hours.

The TUI flight from Mexico to Manchester made a U-turn due to a medical emergency, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded for more than 24 hours. The passengers needed to wait to complete their journey from Ireland's Shannon Airport since Saturday with several hundred more waiting for the return flight to Manchester.

The passengers managed to arrive back in Manchester on Sunday afternoon, after they left Cancun more than 48 hours ago. The flight left Cancun at about 5:30pm on local time on Friday and it made the U-turn around midway through its journey to land in Gander, Canada.

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Several passengers spoke to the Manchester Evening News that the medical emergency was alcohol-related, although it is believed the patient is understood to have had an underlying condition, although TUI has refuted this.

About an hour later, the plane left Gander and instead of heading to Manchester, it only went as far as Shannon in Ireland. This was due to legal restrictions and flight time limitations which mean the crew were not allowed to fly further, according to TUI.

When passengers disembarked at Shannon Airport, they were left waiting in the departures lounge for several hours. And after boarding again, they had to wait another three hours - some of which was spent in the dark - as engineers dealt with an electrical fault.

Passengers were told they needed to get off the aircraft again and to take all their luggage due to what TUI described as a "technical issue." They returned to the departures lounge shortly after midnight, in the early hours of this morning where they slept.

TUI said another flight was also not able to operate from Shannon Airport that meant all hotel rooms were booked. Passenger Nicole Higgins, 32, from Wakefield, who was in Cancun for a week with her fiancé, told the Manchester Evening News: "You couldn't make it up. It's been one nightmare after another."

Newly-weds Claire and Jamie, from Harrogate, were in Cancun for two weeks on their honeymoon, with the 34-year-old Claire adding: "We left four days after our wedding and we were in absolute bliss. I can't remember my wedding at this point. It's a distant memory. It was only 48 hours ago we were leaving our lovely Mexican resort. No we're on a cold lino floor at an airport in Ireland."

A TUI UK&I Spokesperson said: "We can confirm that flight TOM147 had to divert to Gander due to a medical emergency onboard. In such circumstances fast reaction and a full medical support on the ground are paramount.

"We therefore thank our crew for their swift and professional reaction, and our guests onboard for their understanding. We are doing our utmost to bring our guests back to Manchester but due to legal restrictions and flight time limitations the crew wasn’t allowed to fly further with the airplane than Shannon.

"We have now arranged alternative flights for all guests to Manchester and have informed passengers proactively that they can claim hotel costs back and will be entitled to compensation. We apologise for all inconveniences and can reassure you that we've been doing whatever possible to bring everyone back home, safely."