Dilan C. * (23) experienced a horror Saturday. The day started so well. The vacation beckons. At 1:10 p.m. she is scheduled to fly to Istanbul on vacation with the airline Pegasus. She arrives in Basel-Mulhouse just under three hours beforehand, fulfilling the airline’s request to accept longer waiting times during the pandemic. But what then follows are exertions that move Dilan C. to say: “Never fly with Pegasus!”.
One after the other: Instead of taking off at the scheduled time, C. receives an SMS around 1.30 p.m.: The start has been postponed to 6.40 p.m. Until then, there was no information about the flight, says C.
Together with around 180 other passengers, she stands perplexed at the gate. After the message, nothing happens again. Afternoon turns into evening. «We stood there for hours. Lots of old people, children, pregnant women. Nobody told us anything. Except that we are not allowed to leave the gate ». C. feels locked in, annoyed that she and everyone else are left alone.
Half a toast and Evian
Sometime after 7 p.m. someone showed up and made sure that everyone received “half a triangle toast and a little Evian water”. The highlight of the day. Because then the passengers are ignored again. Dilan C: «We were sweating, wanted some fresh air, old people needed their medication, but nothing happened».
Instead, the next SMS will be sent at 8:23 p.m.: The flight has been canceled. Addresses are given for free rebooking or reimbursement. «But what use is that to the passengers who should have been in Istanbul today? They should have known what was going on much earlier, ”complains C.
Mist to blame for annulation
Dilan C. has still not been able to leave the gate. She has now been at the gate for around eleven hours. There is only redemption shortly before 9:30 p.m. In the form of the next SMS: The flight was canceled due to heavy fog in Istanbul. The replacement plane would take off on Sunday at 10.50 a.m.
C. fetches her suitcase and lets the family pick her up. But many others have to wait at the airport. “Maybe all night,” says C. She’ll see most of them again on Sunday.
50 signatures collected
She collected signatures to file a lawsuit against Pegasus. 50 people took part on Saturday. At around 8 a.m. she is on her way to the airport. When Blick spoke to her, she received the next message from Pegasus: “The flight leaves at 12 noon instead of 10:50.” But really this time. In the late afternoon the young woman lands in Turkey. Now she wants to enjoy her vacation, but she also wants to contact Pegasus to hand over the signatures.
Pegasus and Basel-Mulhouse Airport were not available for comment. (vof)
Become a reader reporter
Do you know more about this story? Contact us and send us your photo or video via WhatsApp or the upload button in the Blick app.
There is at least 25 francs for each published reader video.
Do you know more about this story? Contact us and send us your photo or video via WhatsApp or the upload button in the Blick app.
There is at least 25 francs for each published reader video.