Snoozing British Airways crew delay Barcelona-bound flight

BRITISH holidaymakers headed for Spain were kept waiting more than three hours because their plane’s crew were fast asleep.

Passengers on the British Airways flight from Aberdeen to Barcelona were told their flight was delayed as the flight crew had been ordered to sleep for an extra few hours. The airline explained that the crew had been kept awake at their hotel by a noisy wedding party the night before.

Angry passengers waiting at Aberdeen International took to social networks to express their discontent at the lack of organisation.

“Sitting in Aberdeen when I should be flying to Barcelona due to a resting crew. #sloppylogistics #couldbeavoided,” tweeted passenger Andrew Wyness.

Another passenger said: “We were told by a member of British Airways staff that the crew had been disturbed by a noisy wedding party below the accommodation at their hotel.

“BA hasn’t offered us any compensation, but I’ll certainly be looking into it.”

The sleep break meant that the Barcelona-bound flight was delayed until 9.50am – three hours 20 minutes after the scheduled 6.30am departure time.

A spokesperson for BA said: “Our crew and cabin crew are required by law to have certain rest periods between operating flights and if that is disrupted then we have to make appropriate measures.

“This particular incident is still something that we are still looking into.

“We apologise to our customers for the delay, but the flight had to be delayed for operational reasons.

“These decisions are based on safety and security which are two principles we will never compromise.”