Two teenagers from Suffolk have been left stranded in Ibiza due to a UK air traffic control failure.
Eighteen-year-old Brooke Morling and Leah Phipps-Askins, also 18, from Felixstowe, ran out of money, and in addition, their families have had to fork out another £1,000 in flight and accommodation costs after their flight home was cancelled.
The friends travelled from London Gatwick on Thursday, August 24, and were due to return on Monday, August 28.
The easyJet flight, booked through travel agent On The Beach, was at first delayed and then completely cancelled, leaving the teenagers at the airport in Ibiza without accommodation, money, or clean clothes.
Bonny Moore, mother of Brooke, said: “It's an absolute nightmare, complete chaos.
“We couldn't get through to anyone so we had to book flights. They leave tonight - Thursday, August 31 - to get to Amsterdam as that was the only way we could get them home.
"The flight from Amsterdam tomorrow morning is to Gatwick. I'm just praying that goes well because that was another £600 for those two flights.
“It has cost £1,300 for them both to stay in the accommodation, sending money so they can get some food. They had no clean clothes.
“We had to pay another £300 for them to stay in the hotel for another two nights. They had no money, so we had to send them money. Understandably, they were scared and just wanted to come home.
“On The Beach said the next flight home was on Monday, a week after they were meant to come home. If the girls hadn't had family at home, I don't know what they would have done.
“It's really horrible because as a mother all you want to do is go and get them, and you're trying to reassure them over the phone and that's really difficult."
The girls are two of thousands of stranded holidaymakers who are being forced to wait several days for flights home to the UK despite airline schedules returning to normal.
Martin Rolfe, chief executive at UK air traffic control company NATS, said initial inquiries show an "unusual piece of data" received by the company caused the issue.
It is understood 1,585 flights due to serve the UK were cancelled on Monday, and although the issue is resolved, aircraft and crew being out of position affected flights on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A spokesperson for easyJet said the company has informed customers of their options to rebook or receive a refund, provided accommodation where possible, and advised anyone required to book their own hotels or flights that they will be reimbursed. Claims can be filed directly on the easyJet website.
The company says that as more seats become available, employees are contacting customers to try and get them on earlier flights, on a first come, first served basis, so customers are encouraged to call them as soon as possible.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “Following the UK Air Traffic Control systems issues on Monday, easyJet is now operating its normal schedule.
“We continue to work hard to support affected customers and bring them home including operating five repatriation flights as well as flying larger planes to particularly busy destinations, as well as providing hotel accommodation where available and advising any customers who were required to book their own hotels or flights due to availability that they will be reimbursed.
"Although this situation was outside of our control, we are sorry for the difficulty this has caused for our customers and remain focused on doing all possible to assist them."
The East Anglian Daily Times reached out to On The Beach for comment but they did not respond.
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