Easyjet to the rescue for passengers

LOW-COST airline Easyjet stepped in yesterday to help British passengers stranded by the collapse of budget airline EUjet.

But around 500 Irish passengers, who had taken EUjet flights from Shannon and Dublin, were left to make their own arrangements.

The firm, along with fellow budget carrier Monarch Scheduled, offered special deals to fly British passengers whose flights home were cancelled after EUjet, which was based in Shannon and Kent in England, collapsed on Tuesday.

Monarch offered a special €36-plus-taxes deal for EUjet passengers due to come back from Spain or Portugal in the next seven days. The flights would return to Luton, Gatwick or Manchester, Monarch said. EasyJet said it was charging an all-in fee of €36 for stranded EUjet passengers.

An easyJet spokesman added: “This is a goodwill gesture and we will not make money out of this. We understand there are 5,000 to 10,000 passengers who need to get home.”

The crisis began for EUjet when shares in parent firm PlaneStation were suspended on Monday, after bankers said they were unable to support extra finance for EUjet after lower- than-expected passenger numbers. PlaneStation filed for administration on Tuesday and EUjet flights were suspended.

EUjet flew to 18 destinations from Kent, including Shannon, Dublin, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester and Malaga.

EUjet’s commercial director, Stuart McGoldrick, said he hoped many of the 100,000 people who had bought tickets for flights in the coming days and weeks would get refunds.

He said a lot of progress had been made by EUjet to keep flights operating but the closure of the Kent airport scuppered its hopes.

Mr McGoldrick said: “On Monday morning we had come into work not knowing that there was a problem with the group. Unfortunately, events overtook us and overtook PlaneStation particularly.

He added as PlaneStation was seeking administration, EUjet could not spend any money to help the thousands of passengers in the middle of journeys.