A passenger from Derry, Northern Ireland, was left shocked after she encountered what looked like hundreds of passengers left sleeping on the floor of Milan Bergamo Airport in the early hours of August 31.

This comes after thousands of flights were cancelled across airlines when an air traffic control system failure wreaked havoc on holidaymakers’ lives on August 28.

The passenger was due to fly with her family of four from Cagliari Airport on the island of Sardinia on Tuesday 29, 2023 at 11:45 am to Dublin Airport, but was told that her flight had been cancelled as they arrived at the airport around 8:00 am.

Once they stood in line for the help desk for around 40 minutes, they were told that Ryanair didn’t fly again to Dublin until September 2.

They were told that Ryanair would only supply one night at a hotel free of charge and that they would need to spend their own money on extra nights staying at a hotel and transfer, no matter how long the cancellations remained or how long it was until their flight home was available.

Instead, the quickest option they were given was to fly from Cagliari to Milan Bergamo Airport at 11:15 pm on August 30 and then remain in the airport until they could get their connecting flight to Dublin Airport at 10:20 am on August 31.

Although this passenger was given this option, she does note that many other passengers were stuck with having to stay longer or book their own flights at their own expense, as flights booked up quickly with so many passengers from multiple flights trying to find their way out of their cancelled flights.

“There were a lot of families left with young children to fend for themselves”, she said.

“Luckily we got there quite early and were sorted fairly quickly in comparison to a lot of passengers who were left for hours not knowing what to do or how they were going to get home.

“One family in the queue behind me had a young daughter who was going to miss their first day back at school.

“This had been their second cancelled flight as they were told to come from Milan Bergamo on Monday to Cagliari Airport, then were told they would have to go back again to Milan Bergamo on Wednesday, after they had already spent over 70 euros on getting a taxi to Cagliari, which they said hadn’t been compensated.”

Once the passenger and her family flew to Milan Bergamo and came out of arrivals, they were shocked at the sight of the floor being completely covered with people sleeping on top of their luggage, on sleeping bags, on air beds and inflatable pool toys, and some left to sleep sitting for hours.

“It was a shocking scene,” she said.

“It looked like something out of 'The Walking Dead' or a zombie movie, with what looked like hundreds of people everywhere over the floor.

“Some families had tried to create make-shift beds on the floor for their young children with clothes from their suitcases.

“Some people had even taken out their inflatable pool beds in a desperate plea for sleep.

“A lot of people looked like they had been there for days, with bags piling up around them.”

There had even been security blocking off part of the airport, where you had to show your boarding pass and explain that you were indeed flying from Milan rather than being stuck waiting for a flight.

There were also what looked like army soldiers walking around, making sure that no fights broke loose or that people didn’t try to sneak into the other side.

The passenger witnessed a man arguing in Italian with two army-clad soldiers, who were trying to calm the man down.

“It seemed like a lot of people were just really pissed off with the situation”, she said.

“I saw a man arguing in Italian with two soldiers.

“Even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, it was obvious the man was annoyed at the situation and trying to get answers from the army soldiers.

“It was all so unfortunate, as a lot were most likely stuck there because a lot of hotels shot their room prices up by hundreds of euros per night once they caught wind of what was happening with the flights, so a lot of people probably couldn’t afford it and had no choice but to lay on the airport floor for days while they waited to get to their destination.”

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Cancelled Flight Zombie Land

By Shannine O’Neill

**EXCLUSIVE**

SHOCKING VIDEO FOOTAGE of passengers sleeping on pool inflatables while others are forced to sleep on top of their luggage and on the ground in Milan Bergamo Airport as thousands of flights were cancelled due to an air traffic control system failure.

A passenger (24) from Derry, Northern Ireland was left shocked after she encountered what looked like hundreds of passengers left sleeping on the floor of Milan Bergamo Airport in the early hours of Thursday 31, 2023.

This comes after thousands of flights were cancelled across airlines when an air traffic control system failure wreaked havoc on holidaymaker’s lives on Monday 28, 2023.

The passenger was due to fly with her family-of-four from Cagliari Airport on the island of Sardinia on Tuesday 29, 2023 at 11:45 AM to Dublin Airport, but was told that her flight had been cancelled as they arrived at the airport around 8:00 AM.

Once they stood in the line for the help desk for around 40-minutes, they were told that Ryanair didn’t fly again to Dublin until Saturday 2, 2023.

They were told that Ryanair would only supply one night at a hotel free of charge, and that they would need to spend their own money on extra nights staying at a hotel and transfer, no matter how long the cancellations remained or how long it was until their flight home was available.

Instead, the quickest option they were given was to fly from Cagliari to Milan Bergamo Airport at 11:15 PM on Wednesday 30, 2023, then to remain in the airport until they could get their connecting flight to Dublin Airport at 10:20 AM on Thursday 31, 2023.

Although this passenger was given this option, she does note that many other passengers were stuck with having to stay longer or book their own flights at their own expense, as flights booked up quickly with so many passengers from multiple flights trying to find their way out of their cancelled flights.

“There were a lot of families left with young children to fend for themselves”, she said.

“Luckily we got there quite early and were sorted fairly quickly in comparison to a lot of passengers who were left for hours not knowing what to do or how they were going to get home.

“One family in the queue behind me had a young daughter who was going to miss their first day back at school.

“This had been their second cancelled flight as they were told to come from Milan Bergamo on Monday to Cagliari Airport, then were told they would have to go back again to Milan Bergamo on Wednesday, after they had already spent over 70-euros on getting a taxi to Cagliari, which they said hadn’t been compensated.”

Once the passenger and her family flew to Milan Bergamo and came out of arrivals, they were shocked at the sight of the floor being completely covered with people sleeping on top of their luggage, on sleeping bags, on air beds and inflatable pool toys, and some left to sleep sitting for hours.

“It was a shocking scene,” she said.

“It looked like something out of the Walking Dead or a zombie movie, with what looked like hundreds of people everywhere over the floor.

“Some families had tried to create make-shift beds on the floor for their young children with clothes from their suitcases.

“Some people had even taken out their inflatable pool beds in a desperate plea for sleep.

“A lot of people looked like they had been there for days, with bags piling up around them.”

There had even been security blocking off part of the airport, where you had to show your boarding pass and explain that you were indeed flying from Milan rather than stuck waiting for a flight still.

There were also what looked like army soldiers walking around, making sure that no fights broke loose or that people didn’t try to sneak into the other side.

The passenger witnessed a man arguing in Italian with two army-clad soldiers, who were trying to calm the man down.

“It seemed like a lot of people were just really pissed-off with the situation”, she said.

“I saw a man arguing in Italian with two soldiers.

“Even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, it was obvious the man was annoyed at the situation and trying to get answers from the army soldiers.

“It was all so unfortunate, as a lot were most likely stuck there because a lot of hotels shot their room prices up by hundreds of euros per night once they caught wind of what was happening with the flights, so a lot of people probably couldn’t afford it and had no choice but to lay on the airport floor for days while they waited to get to their destination.”

ENDS