The passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, was scheduled to board the flight to Tenerife at 15:45 from Newcastle Airport on Friday, but was told by text message that the flight had been canceled – 45 minutes after the scheduled departure.  He said they were given 10 10 vouchers to spend at the airport by TUI, but Gregs was the only open space and “ran out of food” due to the influx of people. 
He and his partner ended up sharing a cake from Gregs and told them in a text message shortly after 7pm that a bus would pick them up and take them to the Holiday Inn at the MetroCentre at 7:30 pm.  However, they said they were not picked up until 9.15pm and by the time they reached the hotel, he had stopped serving food. 
Read more: Latest US entry rules for Covid as CDC removes pre-departure test requirement for UK tourists

It means that they had not eaten properly since 3 in the afternoon and were worried about families with children. Since then, the passenger has criticized TUI for their “shameful” communication, saying they left it to airport staff. He said: “At no point did we have any TUI to see us, they left it to the airport staff and everyone asked them questions. “They gave us a λι 10 voucher to spend at the airport, but the only thing that was not closed was Gregs, but they ran out of food because everyone was trying to get food. There were no sandwiches, I think we got a share cake. “There were about 200 people in line for a λι 10 meal voucher for 45 minutes and then they lined us up for bus tickets for another 45 minutes, so we did not take the bus until 9.15pm. “We only arrived at the hotel after 10pm and there was no food. The only place open was a 24-hour Asda a mile away, but we were tired and had nothing. There was a continental breakfast in the morning, but no one had told us.” TUI organized a taxi to pick them up on Saturday morning at 6am to take them to Doncaster for a flight at 12pm. However, the passenger, who was looking forward to a weekly break in Tenerife, said TUI had handled the situation “horribly” and said they were now wasting their days in the sun. He said: “We will go for a week and by the time we get there, we have lost two days. We tried to call TUI to ask for compensation, but we received an automated message saying it was an hour Wait, we just hung up. TUI “As soon as he left us hanging, they handled it horribly. The passengers were treated awfully and the communication was embarrassing.” In response, TUI said they aim to communicate with customers “quickly” and provide transportation, overnight stays, meals and refreshments as required, and apologized to affected customers. It comes as the aviation industry struggles to cope with rising demand for travel amid severe staff shortages. A TUI UK spokesman said: “We would like to apologize to customers affected by the late departure of TOM1558 from Newcastle Airport to Tenerife. and offer transportation, overnight, meals and refreshments as needed. “We understand that last minute changes are incredibly frustrating and we would like to assure customers that we are doing everything we can to give them a vacation as planned. We thank customers for their patience and understanding.” Read below: