'We're exhausted after sleeping on airport floor'

"It has been horrendous," says Kelly Fewery, after spending the night sleeping on an airport floor.

She is stranded with her husband, Alan Jones, and their son and niece, at Dalaman Airport in Turkey since an air traffic control fault in the UK cancelled more than 1,750 flights.

The family, from Blackpool, said it was "absolute chaos" at the airport after their 23:30 Jet2 return flight to Manchester was cancelled on Tuesday night.

Jones, 51, said they were frustrated with a lack of communication from Jet 2 Staff, adding: "We are all absolutely exhausted. We got very little sleep."

"We just want to get on a plane - that's all we want," he said.

Jet2 said the disruption was "out of our control" but staff were "continuing to work tirelessly to communicate with and look after all customers".

Flight delays are continuing after tens of thousands of passengers were hit by disruption on Tuesday.

A further 153 flights have been axed so far on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Nats, the air traffic control provider, blamed a technical glitch and its boss Martin Rolfe apologised, saying there would be a full investigation after the firm admitted resolving the issue had taken "longer than hoped".

Jet 2 said it had put on additional flights to get people home.

"We would of course like to apologise to everyone affected by this disruption, and we share their frustration," a spokesperson said.

Fewery, 47, said: "Children were blowing up lilos [to sleep on] and people were emotional and they were crying."

Jones, who has a form of eye cancer, and his partner, who also has health issues, said they were told by a Jet2 representative at one point during the night that they would be given blankets and pillows but were later told this was not possible.

He said they had also only been given two meals of sandwiches, a drink and a cake during this time.

Jones said in the early hours of Wednesday they were told by a Jet2 representative to book their own accommodation and then to meet outside the airport to be taken there.

But about 20 minutes after they got outside, he said they were then told by another Jet2 representative that they knew nothing about this.

"There were families with children and kids screaming," he said.

"We get it - it wasn't Jet2's fault but they have a duty of care to look after us here."

The couple said they had been told they should be able to return to Manchester on a flight scheduled for 15:00 local time.

Back in Manchester, care worker David Platt, from Levenshulme, said he spent about four hours sitting on a Jet2 plane due to fly to Fuerteventura before it was cancelled.

He said passengers were given water while on board and then waited up to two hours for their luggage.

The 63-year-old said passengers were told to find an airline representative after leaving the aircraft, but there were "no reps about" when they returned to the at Manchester Airport terminal.

Platt said he had still not heard directly from Jet2 and was now hoping for a full refund after booking two weeks off work for the holiday.

Jet 2 apologised, saying it had to make the "difficult decision" to cancel the flight and told the BBC that Platt and other passengers on the Manchester to Fuerteventura flight would be given a full refund.

Meanwhile, University of Nottingham biomedical science student Caitlin, 19, from Sheffield, praised Jet2 staff after spending about three hours at Manchester Airport waiting for a plane to Kos.

She said the pilot gave updates every 15 minutes and the cabin crew "did everything they possibly could".

Caitlin said Jet2 had told her family they would receive a refund for their cancelled package holiday within seven days.

Jake Brammer and his family, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, told BBC North West Tonight they reached the gate at Manchester Airport and were told there was a 20-minute delay, which turned into a three-hour delay and then they heard a tannoy announcement to say all flights had been suspended.

Brammer said they ended up having to book new flights which "has cost us a lot of money".

"Loads of people are angry - everyone has had their holidays ruined," he said.

Flyers have been advised to continue checking flights with their airlines as it is expected it will take days for flights to fully resume.

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