A FAMILY from Manchester say they had to make their own way home after being left stranded at a Spanish airport at the end of their sunshine holiday.

The group had been booked onto a bmibaby aircraft from Alicante, but after a wait of more than five hours, passengers were told the flight had been cancelled.

They were told to collect their bags and handed letters telling them that the no-frills airline would book them onto alternative flights within 14 days `subject to availability' .

But the party said they were then left to spend an uncomfortable night sleeping on the floor inside the airport terminal as, like hundreds of other passengers, they had nowhere else to go.

The group used a mobile phone to make an emergency call to relatives in Britain to ask if they could locate an alternative flight with another airline and book seats as quickly as possible. But after spending more than £1,000 to book seats on a Monarch Airlines flight which left the next day, they were told they would not get a refund of their air fares.

Sandra Groves 62, from Gatley, said: "It was an absolute nightmare, and we can't believe how we were all treated."

Mrs Groves, who is disabled, said: "We were just left stranded at the airport in the early hours of the morning.

"There was nobody from the airline to tell us anything. We were so desperate that we had to take matters into our own hands. We had to be back because the rest of the party had work commitments."

She said: "We were told there was a delay on the flight when we got to the airport on Friday night, but there was no further information after that. Three other flights including Ryanair and easyJet were also cancelled, and we suspected we weren't going anywhere."

Mrs Groves who travelled with her daughter, son in law, niece and two friends, said: "Fortunately, we were able to contact my nephew who booked us onto the Monarch flight. We later found out that the next bmibaby flight would not have been until the next night.

"We were advised we should be able to get a refund of the extra money we had to pay out through our holiday insurance, but our insurers said because we were offered an alternative flight by bmibaby, and opted to go with another airline, we weren't eligible."

A spokesman for the airline said: "The flight from Alicante to Manchester was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Passengers were advised they could book on the next available flight subject to availability. bmibaby also advised passengers that a refund would be made for the value of the unused flights."

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