Passengers scheduled to fly to Amsterdam from Dundee airport have told of “utter chaos” after receiving contradictory and “confusing” information about changes to their flights.
Airline Flybe has announced that all flights on the flagship Dundee-Amsterdam route will temporarily operate from and to Edinburgh airport.
But it appears that, contrary to the announcement, some customers are being told they will be flying back to the City of Discovery after all.
One female customer, who is due to fly on Monday, has received an e-mail informing her she will be travelling from Edinburgh to Amsterdam and then returning from Amsterdam to Dundee, as listed below:
She said: “I’m utterly confused. What I’ve been sent doesn’t tie in with what has appeared in the media.
“I’ve called customer services and Dundee airport, and they’re adamant that I’ll be flying back to Dundee.
“Yet I’m reading that all flights are now operated from Edinburgh.
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“I also read that passengers are going to be bussed from Dundee airport to Edinburgh, but I haven’t received any information at all about any bus service.
“It’s a shambles – nobody knows what’s going on, even Flybe’s own staff.”
The customer added that she has mistakenly been sent correspondence intended for other passengers, with their names and reference numbers.
This has been echoed by at least five other customers who have contacted the Courier in the past 24 hours.
Another Dundee customer who called us said: “We’re a party of six, going to Amsterdam next week.
“As well as an e-mail informing us of the changes, we’ve also received e-mails intended for other passengers. I now have the details of two complete strangers’ flight details.
“Surely this is a breach of data protection, and I’m now worried about whether my details have been sent to someone else.”
Another passenger has been sent this “nonsensical” itinerary, which says that the journey from Dundee to Edinburgh would take 6 hours and 25 minutes with two changes.
A further flyer, Allan McIntyre, insists he still hasn’t been informed of the shuttle-bus service on offer to passengers.
He said: “We decided that we would nip away for a couple of days and chose Amsterdam not so much because we wanted to go, but because it would be easy.
“Now this has happened and we have had no information or level of service at all – I’m finding out more from being on Twitter and chatting to people like myself.
“If the shoe was on the other foot and I was making changes, they would definitely charge me.
“It’s just really disappointing because they offered the flight and accepted my money. This shouldn’t be my problem.
“There’s a real tangible buzz about Dundee. But moments like this are what holds people back – this will have more of a detrimental impact than just not being able to get to Amsterdam.”
Flybe has been contacted for comment.
In their earlier statement, they had apologised to passengers for any inconvenience.
A spokesman for Dundee Airport operator HIAL said: “The Dundee Airport team is working with the airline to obtain a greater understanding of the timescales involved around the decision and to minimise disruption to passengers during that period.”
