For days, flights have been cancelled at Madeira airport due to strong winds. Funchal airport is notorious for being one of the most dangerous in the world. Passengers complain about a lack of help.
Thousands of holidaymakers from Germany are stuck on the Portuguese holiday island of Madeira. Others could not and cannot land there. Airlines such as Condor cite the “Challenging weather conditions with strong winds on site“. Since the safety of passengers and crew is “the top priority at all times,” as a Condor spokeswoman wrote in response to a request from SWR, takeoffs and landings of aircraft from several airlines have been cancelled.
Travelers like the Micheli family from Bad Urach (Reutlingen district) feel let down by their airline – in this case Condor. The family of four was only given mats to sleep on on the airport floor. And after asking several times on the phone, they were given a return flight to Stuttgart – but not for a week. For the family, “a nightmare,” Bettina Micheli told SWR. An ending like this ruins even the best vacation.
We’re all just left to our own devices here and there’s no help at the airport. The only thing they have is mats. That’s it.
Bettina Micheli, mother from Bad Urach-Wittlingen
Lack of information and assistance at Madeira Airport
The Micheli family fully understands the cancellation of the flight: “It was definitely the right decision. The winds were simply too strong and too dangerous.” But the fact that Condor is not providing passengers with replacement flights and that there is no flow of information annoys Alexander and Bettina Micheli.
For some, this sounds like a luxury problem, like a great holiday extension, but that’s not the case, says Bettina Micheli, mother of two, in an interview with SWR. “The holiday feeling is gone,” even though the ten days on the island were wonderful. The fact that they are now spending an extra week on Madeira as a family of four, which was unplanned, has brought with it a whole series of problems – both emotionally and financially: loss of earnings for the son, cancellation of the camping trip for the daughter, and cancellation of another trip.
Who covers the costs if a flight is cancelled?
The question facing stranded travellers is who covers the costs – also for the overnight stay in a holiday apartment, which is now necessary for a further seven nights. Since the cancellation was due to bad weather conditions, Bettina Micheli is not sure whether the additional costs will be covered by the airline. The cancellation was due to bad weather conditions.
Condor told the Micheli family verbally over the phone that the costs would be covered. However, documents that the family received at the airport state that costs will not be reimbursed if a flight is cancelled due to weather. “We are completely in the dark,” complains Bettina Micheli. An additional week will cost the family a considerable amount of money.
Condor: Submitting costs is possible
In response to SWR’s query, the airline Condor stated: “Guests whose return flight from Funchal cannot take place until a later date can the costs incurred They are trying to bring all guests back to Germany “as quickly as possible”. A spokeswoman explains that there are no earlier return flights from Madeira because of the “currently very busy summer holiday season”.
The Micheli family from Bad Urach are now resting in their holiday apartment after the shock at the end of their holiday and the night on the airport floor. The most emotionally difficult time is behind them, says the mother. Switching to earlier flights is not an option due to completely inflated prices such as 1,200 euros per person. They hope that their flight to Stuttgart can leave on Thursday evening.
On Thursday, the Micheli family was affected by the cancellation of their flight from Funchal to Stuttgart. But things didn’t look any better on Sunday. Thousands of holidaymakers are stuck on Madeira.
Many flights cancelled again on Madeira
For other travelers, the chaos has only just begun. On Sunday, numerous flights to and from Madeira were again cancelled due to strong winds. From the early hours of the morning, flights were cancelled in droves: both arrival and departure. In the hall of Funchal airport, there are even more stranded vacationers lying on mats than on Thursday, according to Bettina Micheli. She is glad that they even found a vacation home at such short notice – on their own.
Broadcast on Sun., 18.8.2024 19:45, SWR Aktuell Baden-Württemberg, SWR BW
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