Birmingham Airport Jet2 holidaymakers ‘felt like prisoners’ after being 'locked in'

Nick Horner

24 April 2024 at 0:22 pm·2-min read

Holidaymakers say they felt like 'prisoners' after arriving back to Birmingham Airport from a sunshine break to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. They said that as they made their way through, airport doors 'locked' and 'trapped' them in a corridor.

Among the 40-strong group were Diane and George Eastwood, from Shropshire, who have spoken about what they say happened. "Children started crying and people were getting irate,"Mrs Eastwood said, reports BirminghamLive.

She claims they were told there was a security breach, something the airport has denied. The passengers reported they were told by an airport employee that they had to stay in the corridor 'until the doors automatically opened'.

The Norton resident alleged a staff member told them it would be half an hour until they could go through before 'telling' a staff member 'you can’t leave us locked in here'. Mrs Eastwood explained to the BBC that she would complain to the media.

She says the doors then opened 'a few minutes later'. But when passengers tried to leave, security alarms were said to have been triggered as they did so.

The passengers were told they were walking in a 'restricted area', Mrs Eastwood said, and 'breaking airport regulations’. She added that they were also told 'police were on their way’.

“People were scared when they heard the police were called," she told the BBC. "In the end, we walked off and people were coming up to me and thanking me for speaking up.”

Speaking about their time in the corridor, the weary holidaymaker said that there was room to move around, but no toilet facilities and no food was offered. “It makes you feel like a prisoner," she said.

"What if a fire broke out? I’m not going to leave it as I think its unfair we were treated like that.”

A Birmingham Airport spokeswoman said: “At no point did a security breach take place at Birmingham Airport. Customers were held in a secure area on their arrival into the airport while routing through to landside.”

Mrs Eastwood has also made a complaint to Jet2 and claims they were left ‘abandoned’ by the company. Jet2 told the BBC it was looking into the incident. BirminghamLive has approached the firm for an update.

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