AFTER three days and nights of hanging around airports and hotel lobbies, newlyweds Matthew and Natalie Astill have given up hope of jetting away on their dream honeymoon.
Mr Astill, 33, and his wife, 30, paid £9,200 for their private African safari and luxury beach holiday in Zanzibar.
But they spent the start of their marriage waiting in a Heathrow car park and watching their BA flight take off without them as they were unable to enter the terminal because of the security alert.
Mr Astill, from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, said: “Watching that plane taking off and being unable to get into the terminal was the worst part.
“It wasn’t cancelled but we just could not get through. I don’t feel any animosity towards BA or the security services. It was the lack of organisation and information that was so frustrating. In the end we were so upset we went into the city and spent the first night at the Waldorf. That set us back £250 so the next night we moved to a cheaper hotel and on the third night we gave up and came back home.
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“British Airways did offer to try to arrange another flight but there were no guarantees and it was too late for us to catch up with our itinerary.”
They decided to pay £2,000 for a holiday to Nice, Venice and Milan. This time they headed to Birmingham airport, where it was less chaotic.