Jet2 passengers' holiday 'ruined' after airline flew them to the wrong island by mistake

Two women have slammed Jet2 after their dream holiday turned into a nightmare when they were accidentally flown to Menorca instead of their intended destination, Majorca.

The blunder occurred despite their boarding passes being checked multiple times.

Linda Trestrail, 69, and Wendy Russell, 71, have voiced their frustration with Jet2 for the mishap that saw them land on the wrong island. The error only became apparent when the pilot announced the approach to Menorca.

Jet2 has apologised for the unfortunate incident, which took place in September 2023, blaming it on "human error" and issues with the special assistance services at Bristol Airport. Despite this, the duo are dismayed by the series of misfortunes they faced and claim they've received no compensation. Linda expressed her disbelief: "You hear of bags going on the wrong flights but not people. The reason we booked Majorca is because of the short flight, we knew our mobility wasn't good so didn't want to do much travelling - we are disabled pensioners."

She added, "You get compensated if you get delayed or lose luggage - but they lost us, not the bloody baggage. Jet2 holidays, the package holidays you can trust - yeah right.", reports Leicestershire Live. The pair, who required wheelchair assistance, were taken to the plane via shuttle bus. Linda recounted how their boarding passes were inspected at various checkpoints including the luggage desk, security, the gate, and even by a ground crew member who counted the passengers.

Recalling the incident, they shared: "Jet2 are the only ones who do double security check on tickets - so they did that, and then we were directed to our seats on the flight. A cabin crew member asked if we were in the right seats, I said yes but she took our tickets away and confirmed we were in the correct seats.

"Then the captain says we're landing in Menorca in 10 minutes! Chaos ensued. I cried to Wendy, 'Oh my god, Wendy! He said Menorca not Majorca! I told the flight attendant we were on the wrong plane - and she burst out laughing. Our tickets were checked five times - even by the flight attendant twice on the plane. Two passengers had flown from Bristol Airport to Menorca - and Jet2 didn't even know who was on their plane."

It turned out that there were three empty seats on the flight, and these ladies had unwittingly taken two of them, believing they were headed for Palma De Majorca as per their tickets. The bewildered pair were told to stay put while the captain, equally astonished, admitted he'd never seen such a blunder in his years of flying. Jet2's CEO, Steve Heapy, has gone above and beyond, offering to fly the women to Majorca himself. Linda recounted how Heapy "was going mental" upon hearing about the incident, citing serious security issues which ruled out the possibility of them returning to Majorca or remaining on the plane they'd mistakenly boarded.

Wendy, who has undergone three brain surgeries and battles arthritis, said: "We went through five major checks there and no one picked up the error - it begs the question about what is going on. They are banging on about security, security, security - but we could've been anybody."

Adding insult to injury, their luggage arrived at Mallorca without them. An infuriated Wendy stated: "I had my injection in my suitcase - our families were so worried. Our luggage was on the right plane as it took off with two bags without the passengers - that's so concerning. They are allegedly so concerned about the seriousness of it, but whichever way you look at it it's a major breach of security. Two suitcases that could have had anything in them."

Linda added: "We were supposed to be at the resort for 1pm - but neither of us knew what time it was by now. The transport coach we had booked had gone hours and hours ago - and from minute we left home it was around 17 hours later our feet and legs were like balloons. Then the Jet2 rep at the resort wouldn't even meet us there, she called me and said she had left - and apparently didn't have time to see to two disabled pensioners - I was furious."

Jet2 has issued an apology after a blunder led to two passengers being flown to the wrong destination. A spokesperson for the airline said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Ms Trestrail and Ms Russell for this incident. This is an extremely isolated incident and although there was no security risk, we have of course investigated it as a matter of urgency, including with the third-party special assistance provider. We can confirm that the customers went through security correctly, and their luggage was also screened correctly.

"However, after these checks the customers were taken to the incorrect aircraft, which is the responsibility of the third-party special assistance provider at the airport. Upon boarding the aircraft, the incorrect destination on their boarding passes was unfortunately not identified and we apologise for this oversight which was down to human error.

"We have carried out additional training with the team to ensure this does not happen again. As soon as we learned of the issue, our team booked Mses. Trestrail and Russell onto the soonest available flight from Menorca to Majorca and they also provided all the assistance they could both throughout their journey and the rest of their holiday. We have been in touch with Ms Trestrail and Ms Russell to offer an appropriate gesture of goodwill and once again offer our sincere apologies. We understand they are due to travel with us once again this year, and we look forward to welcoming them onboard and delivering the usual VIP customer experience that we are recognised for."

A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said: "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, we will continue to work with the airline and the special assistance provider to further investigate the circumstances and introduce improvements for the future."