A mother and her two children endured 26 hours of flight chaos after their Tui plane to Manchester was cancelled following extensive delays.
Sophie Hughes, a 37-year-old from Huyton, arrived at Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus with her son and daughter on Friday, August 22, expecting to depart at 12.25am the following morning.
Instead, the family faced an initial three-hour delay before boarding at 3.30am, only to remain on the tarmac for nearly four additional hours.
The airline attributed the disruption to ground equipment becoming lodged behind the aircraft, which ultimately prevented departure.
Tui explained that crew members would have exceeded their legally permitted working hours had they attempted the return journey to the UK.
The staff required a mandatory 12-hour rest period before being authorised to fly again, according to information provided to passengers.
This regulatory constraint forced approximately 300 travellers to disembark at 7.15am local time.
Passengers were informed that a Tui representative would meet them inside the terminal, but the airline employee failed to reach the gate area.
Sophie Hughes was left stranded from the Tui flight
| PAHours passed before a Swissport representative finally appeared, announcing that only 90 hotel rooms were available across various establishments for the stranded travellers.
Those unable to secure accommodation faced dire conditions inside the terminal.
Photographs revealed young children sleeping on makeshift beds of cardboard and paper bags spread across the hard flooring.
"The people who didn't have a hotel spent the entire time in the airport, there were children sleeping on the floor with no access to their luggage," Sophie Hughes told Liverpool Echo.
The family were stranded at Larnaka International Airport (file pic)
|GETTY
Images captured lengthy queues of frustrated travellers throughout the terminal as chaos unfolded.
The situation prompted affected passengers to establish a Facebook group titled "TUI disaster 23/08".
The group attracted 67 members seeking support and information during the crisis.
The disruption severely impacted families with special needs, including Hughes's 12-year-old son who has autism and her 15-year-old daughter suffering from a chronic pain condition.
Ms Hughes said: "My son has said he doesn't want to go on a plane again because he was just scared.
"We didn't really know what was happening and we didn't know whether the flight was ever gonna go. We felt stranded."
She spent €100 on taxi fare to reach a hotel "in the middle of nowhere" after securing accommodation at 11am.
The family finally departed Cyprus at 2am on Sunday, August 24, a full 26 hours after their scheduled departure.
GB News has approached Tui for a comment.