Festive excitement turned into heartbreak for nearly 130 children dressed in their Christmas jumpers, eagerly anticipating their day out in Lapland.
What was supposed to be a joyful day filled with husky rides, snowmobiles, a sleigh ride, and meeting Santa Claus was instead a day of parents consoling their crying children.
Families had spent thousands of pounds to bring the festive joy to their little ones on a trip from Glasgow Airport to Finland on Thursday, December 11.
The morning air was filled with excitement as families queued up to take photographs in the departure lounge.
But, moments before the 7am flight took off, passengers were told something had struck the plane’s windscreen.
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They were escorted off the flight, operated by Enter Air on behalf of Transun, but because there was no backup plane, the festive trip was cancelled.
Stefenie Bird-Young, 36, and her husband Chris, 35, were travelling with their two children, nine-year-old Aaden and Amelia, seven.
The family of four paid £2,300 for the Christmas trip, while the children’s grandparents, 66-year-old Ally and Sandra, spent an extra £1,000 to join in on the festivities.
Their children had told all their friends and teachers they were going to see Santa in Lapland, and had even gotten up at 3am to get ready for the flight.
Stefenie said: ‘We were about to take off – then something happened and we were told to disembark.
‘The next thing we knew the flight was cancelled and we were told “go home”.
‘It’s a chartered flight for a day trip so there was no other plane for us. You only get one shot.
‘The sound of the children crying their hearts out was unbearable.’
She shared her experience in a public post on Facebook, writing: ‘No words can even express our feelings with what’s happened today.
‘Right now, I thought we would be enjoying the husky rides, Santa, snow and endless magical fun with our babies.
‘But our dreams came crashing down when we were about to take off this morning, when something hit the pilot’s windscreen, through no fault of their own.
‘As a parent, my heart is broken for my babies.’
Sandra Bird, another passenger, commented: ‘It still feels like a bad dream all onboard ready for take off to be told we have to disembark technical issue, devastated is how we all felt and still feel.’
Barrhead Travel reportedly tried to source alternative travel for the disappointed families, but it would have cost them £5,000.
For Stefenie’s family, they simply couldn’t justify the cost and were told to accept a refund or wait until next year.
‘I just can’t justify that,’ she said. ‘We’ve been told we can wait until next year or take a refund, but with my dad’s health we genuinely don’t know if next year is even possible. And Aaden is getting older so we don’t know if he’ll have that same excitement to meet Santa.’
A Transun spokesperson said: ‘We were saddened that yesterday’s day trip from Glasgow had to be cancelled. We were informed that the aircraft was struck from outside whilst taxiing to the runway which broke the cockpit window. The aircraft returned to the stand and passengers disembarked.
‘We are sorry for the inconvenience and understand there will be disappointment, particularly for children. Affected passengers have been given the option of either transferring their booking to another available date or receive a full refund.’
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