HOLIDAYMAKERS have been left furious after they were stranded across UK airports when TUI redirected flights from Bournemouth.

Delays to the airline and restricted opening hours of Bournemouth Airport meant multiple flights have been redirected to airports in London and East Midlands.

Mia White, 44, endured a 16-hour journey from Rhodes to Bournemouth, along with her husband, 45, daughter and son, aged 11 and eight.

On July 20, the family arrived at the airport for 6pm in preparation for their flight to Bournemouth at 9.35pm but were met with a three-hour delay.

At around 11pm Mia’s husband saw their flight would be arriving at London Gatwick, instead of Bournemouth, with no direct communication from TUI.

After finally arriving to Gatwick, the family managed to squeeze onto the one and only coach waiting for the plane load of passengers and did not arrive home until 7am.

“I will never fly with TUI or Bournemouth Airport again,” said Mia.

Similarly, on July 19 Charlotte was faced with a three-and-a-half-hour delay at Tenerife airport and was told mid-flight they would be arriving at East Midlands Airport, not Bournemouth.

Their planned flight from Tenerife was due at 8.05pm but Charlotte did not board a coach in England until 5.40am and arrived in Bournemouth for 9am.

“Absolutely disgusting service by TUI,” said Charlotte.

Gary, 65, and Julie Pick, 60, have been fighting a compensation claim, with no avail, after their horror journey on June 8.

The couple also faced hours of delays when travelling from Antalya, Turkey, and were told halfway through their flight that it was too late to land at Bournemouth Airport so would be taken to London Gatwick.

Gary said almost 200 passengers were left stranded in Gatwick, dressed in shorts and flip-flops, with children crying and no coaches for them.

“It was absolute carnage there, people were pushing, shoving and shouting,” said Gary.

“TUI just don’t seem to care.”

Eventually, Gary and Julie booked their own taxi with another couple and arrived back to Bournemouth for 4.30am.

“We fly from Bournemouth because it’s convenient and we live here so we’re prepared to pay a premium price for that.

“If we wanted the cheapest holiday with TUI we would have gone to Gatwick.”

He added: “It was shocking, we’re never going with TUI again if this is how they treat us.”

A TUI spokesperson said: “We’d like to sincerely apologise to passengers who were impacted by the diversion of flight TOM655 from Antalya to Bournemouth due to air travel control restrictions. Unfortunately this delayed departure meant that Bournemouth Airport was closed and the flight had to divert to London Gatwick.

“There was a shortage of coaches on arrival so our teams organised mini buses to take customers home. Members of our team were also present at the airport to help customers during this time. We completely understand that diversions of this nature are frustrating and it's not how we want our customers’ holidays to end. We encourage customers to get in touch with their travel insurance providers should they wish to make a claim for this delay.”

A Bournemouth Airport spokesperson said: “The operating hours for the airport are aligned with scheduled flights, building in flexibility to accommodate delays and diversions where possible.

“As the airport looks forward to the upcoming increase in operators, flights and destinations from Bournemouth, operational support will be scaled-up as required to meet this growth in activity.”