Easyjet canceled flight EJU7628 last night, which was connecting Funchal and Lisbon, and was scheduled to leave at 9:10 pm.
According to what was communicated to us by a family member of one of the affected passengers, Luís Sousa, the company claimed that the captain had already exceeded the flight hours.
The flight was rescheduled for this Friday, September 8th, at 2pm, but this flight was also rescheduled, which caused great consternation to passengers, especially as they were already inside the aircraft when they were informed of the new schedule.
The new departure time would be at 8 pm, aboard EJU9628. But the most recent information already points to departure at 10 pm .
The explanation for the 2pm cancellation was that “this is due to air traffic control restrictions at the arrival airport. As a result, your flight may be queued before it departs. As air traffic control schedules can change at short notice, we may ask you to board at your original departure time and wait on the plane so we can get you on your way as soon as a time slot becomes available.”
Easyjet also states that “the interruption of your flight is beyond our control and is considered an extraordinary circumstance.
Yesterday, according to information on the airline’s website, passengers were informed that there would be problems with the availability of accommodation. “Due to extremely high demand, we are unfortunately unable to find hotel rooms in the area. If you require a hotel room and can make your own arrangements, we will reimburse the cost of a reasonably priced room, meals and travel expenses to and from your hotel. In this case we ask that you look for accommodation with around three stars or equivalent. Keep all your receipts so you can make your complaint”, it read.
Finding a cheap room would have been almost impossible, which easyjet would know.
UPDATE
However, as passengers have stated, the flight, contrary to what was indicated, which would depart at 8 pm, and then at 10 pm, ended up leaving Madeira airport at 4:10 pm… this after some passengers had even received information that there would be vouchers for a light meal.