More than 270 Swedish travelers were stranded at the airport in Las Palmas, on Gran Canaria after their flight back to was delayed by over 20 hours, reports Aftonbladet.
A flight from Las Palmas to Arlanda would have left at 18.40 on Saturday. Aftonbladet has spoken to the traveler Magnus who was at the airport on Saturday afternoon. First, the departure was brought forward by half an hour at a time several times – then he received an SMS that the flight had been cancelled.
– I don’t know what is happening, you wonder what has happened to SAS, he tells the newspaper.
SAS: “We deeply regret”
A replacement flight was due to depart the airport at 11am on Sunday morning, but has been delayed until 3.30pm. A flight to Landvetter was also delayed and is scheduled to leave at 16.45.
Several of the affected travelers had to spend the night until Sunday at the airport.
SAS spokesperson Knut Morten Johansen tells the newspaper that a traffic regulation meant that all airlines suffered delays.
– This meant that the flight crew reached the maximum limit for working hours. It also became difficult to find hotel rooms because it just affected all airlines and all travelers.
He regrets the delays “in the strongest possible terms”.
Apollo: “There have been challenges”
Martina Krantz, press officer for Apollo in Sweden, says that the company “deeply regrets what happened”.
– There have been challenges in this event that have made it very difficult for our customers. We understand that it is not optimal to spend the night in an airport, she tells the newspaper.