A Jersey family on holiday in Bordeaux has described “apocalyptic” scenes as wildfires engulfed the skies, leaving them almost £600 out of pocket when their flight home was cancelled.
Amy Ware, who flew to Bordeaux with her family on Loganair’s direct service on Monday 21 July, said what had begun as a relaxing holiday quickly turned into a stressful race to get home to Jersey as wildfires spread across south-west France.
Around 220,000 people have been evacuated since the fires broke out near France’s Atlantic coast last week.
The blazes are now only nine miles from entry points to the main metropolitan area of Bordeaux.
“The sky just went black”
Amy told Express about the moment the family realised the situation had dramatically worsened.
“It was Thursday, and we were coming out of the shopping centre, and the sky looked black. It was orange at the bottom, and then it just went black. It was awful,” she said.
The family hurried back to their Airbnb accommodation as ash began falling from the sky.
“It was quite apocalyptic,” said Amy. “We were confused about what was happening.”
Although the family was told they did not need to evacuate because the smoke had been blown into the area by the wind, they were advised to wear face masks if they went outside.
Just 24 hours before they were due to fly home on Sunday 26 July, Amy received an email from Loganair stating that the Bordeaux to Jersey flight had been cancelled.
The airline offered passengers the choice of a full refund or changing their booking to depart from Paris instead.
Loganair rebooked the family onto flights via Paris Charles de Gaulle after Amy contacted the airline, but the family was told they would have to make their own way there.
She said the article told them: “You just have to get to Paris.”
“We’re out of pocket by nearly £600”
The family paid €240 for train tickets from Bordeaux to Paris and a further £270 for an overnight hotel stay because they needed to travel the day before their flight.
“We had to leave Bordeaux and get the train up to Paris, which cost us €240,” said Amy. “It’s not an expense you really expect. So we’re out of pocket by nearly £600 at this point.”
Amy said she had been unable to submit a compensation claim because the cancellation had been recorded as being caused by the wildfires.
“I’ve tried to go online to gain a claim form, but because they’ve put it down as due to the wildfires, it’s like a circumstance is out of their hand,” she explained.
Amy added that her brother-in-law’s family, who had been holidaying with them, were still able to fly home from Bordeaux to Ireland with Aer Lingus.
She also expressed concern for other passengers who may have found it even harder to rearrange their journey.
“There must have been some families that haven’t even been able to get to Paris or even have the capabilities if someone’s disabled, as trying to navigate that train system was really difficult,” said Amy.
“Lack of support” from Loganair
She said that the “lack of support” from Loganair has left her reluctant to travel with the airline again.
“There wasn’t even support in the best websites that you can use for hotel bookings, or here’s a discount code,” added Amy.
“There was nothing like that. It was just like, get yourself to Paris. That was it.”
Yesterday, Loganair said there were no plans to suspend flights between Jersey and Bordeaux.
However, the airline said any suspension ordered by Bordeaux Airport authorities would affect all airlines operating there, and passengers would be contacted directly with updates.
