Jon Dewey and his family, from Bristol, said they could be stuck ‘in a war zone for weeks’ if they can’t find a flight from Jordan back to the UK soon following the Iran missile strike
A British family are facing a race against time to get home from the Middle East after their flight was cancelled due to Iran’s done and missile attack on Israel.
Jon Dewey and his wife Sam, from Bristol, fear they will be trapped in Jordan with their children after they claim they were “abandoned” by Wizz Air on Saturday. The couple and their sons Gabriel, 23, and Jem, 18, had just finished visiting their daughter Joely, 21, who is on placement from the University of Manchester, to a language school overseas.
The family were left scrambling for answers after their Amman-London flight was halted less than an hour before they were meant to take off. Things went from bad to worse after they were “shepherded” into the Amman airport car park as drones and missiles were struck down in sight of them. The family, alongside other passengers, said they saw “burning debris as drones were shot out of the sky”. The Dewey’s found out what was happening when they checked their phones.
They said they are continuing to look for seats, which is proving to be a huge expense, with some tickets reportedly costing up to £2,000. Jon, 57, said they could be “stuck in a war zone for weeks” if they can’t find a flight, reports Daily Mail. He said: “We had checked in and had passed through security and then less than an hour before take-off there was an announcement that the flight had been cancelled. There was no explanation. We were shepherded into the car park to wait for transport to take us to a hotel and we had a clear view of the aerial bombardments. There were several explosions nearby. You could hear the thump of bombs.”
The family began to “panic” and said they had no idea how long the attack was going to continue. They said they were eventually picked up by a bus and taken to a hotel at around 4.30am. However, they claimed Wizz Air never got in contact with them until they were sent an email to rebook a flight through its app. Jon added: “But the next two flights – tomorrow [Tuesday 16] and on Thursday [18] have been cancelled too. We have two dogs and a cat that my sister is looking after, and I have a sick mother who is 90. We need to get home.”
A spokeswoman for Wizz Air told the publication: “We would like to express our sincerest apologies to customers impacted by the cancellation of flight W9 5304 from Amman to the UK. We know that this would have caused significant disruption for those affected.
“The health and safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority and, in this instance, the flight was cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. All passengers were provided with transportation and hotel accommodation, and we have been in touch to outline their rights and options for forward travel, including rebooking or requesting a refund. Again, we apologise for any disruption this has caused our passengers.”
A spokesperson for Wizz Air told The Mirror: “Due to the Jordanian air space closure the plane could not make into Jordan and had to divert. Wizz Air has sent all passengers details of their rights and their options for forward travel, which would be to rebook with Wizz Air, take 120% in credit or a full refund. Customers booking through an online travel agent are encouraged to contact them if they have not received any correspondence, as this has likely gone through to the booking agent. Flights are very full, and Wizz Air is doing what it can to support passengers in Amman. The airline will cover the cost of any accommodation for passengers choosing to travel on Wizz Air’s next available flight. Obviously this is a very unfortunate situation but regretfully something outside of Wizz Air’s control.”
