Flight leaves stunned passengers stranded

Passengers hoping to fly from Germany to Mallorca were stunned to watch their flight take-off without them, having simply been told there would be a delay.

Traffic delays caused by bad weather that hit Mallorca in mid-August were not just restricted to road traffic. On Wednesday August 14, at the height of the summer storm, a Eurowings aeroplane due to fly to Palma from Saar-Airport in Ensheim, Germany, set off on its journey empty, leaving incredulous passengers watching as they were left behind at the airport.

Stunned passengers left stranded

In a report from local German newspaper, the Saarbrücker Zeitung, passengers had initially boarded the Eurowings flight EW6819 to Palma when they were informed that, owing to the extreme weather conditions, there would be a delay of several hours before take-off. Passengers were encouraged to leave the aircraft during the wait, taking their hand luggage with them, but were stunned to see the aircraft taking off shortly after, leaving them stranded behind at the airport.

A declaration by Eurowings explained that because slots for incoming and outgoing air traffic were limited, and the delay had already cost the airline precious time, when the aircraft was cleared for take-off, a decision was made to minimise further disruption to later flights by seizing the opportunity and flying, passenger-free. To wait for the passengers to reboard the plane would have cost extra time, risking a knock-on effect that would have disrupted scheduled flights for around 500 people, including those waiting in Mallorca for their return journey.

The passengers left behind at the Ensheim airport were informed that their flight had been cancelled and as a consequence had to seek other flights from Düsseldorf or Cologne in order to arrive at their Mallorca destination.