The plane was initially scheduled to depart from the French city of Nice at 7.35 p.m on Friday, but little went according to plan. At first, passengers were informed that their flight to Luxembourg had to be delayed by 75 minutes. In conversation with France 3, a student who travelled on board revealed that they were informed about the new departure time at 7.00 p.m.
Two hours later, the boarding process, which had just begun, was interrupted “due to another plane using the same lane”, explained the student. However, those already on board were told by staff that the new delay occurred because of lost baggage at Findel airport.
Around 9.30 p.m., the plane finally took off. There were however still surprises to come, revealed the student: “After being in the air for one hour, the plane turned around and it was announced that we could not land in Luxembourg.”
According to French media reports, Findel airport closed and thus forced the plane to fly to Lyon, which is still more than 500 km from the desired destination. Once in Lyon, the Spanish airline booked hotel rooms for the passengers near the airport. Travellers were able to check into their respective rooms at 1.30 a.m. after being informed that a bus would pick them up at 10.00 a.m. the next day to get them to Findel airport.
The passengers of flight V7257 arrived in the Grand Duchy close to 24 hours after the initially scheduled departure time. The airline has since ensured that they paid for everyone’s dinner, hotel room, and breakfast. The airline also organised the bus that brought people to their final destination.
