Holidaymakers smell 'smoke' before TUI plane turns back to Manchester Airport for 'emergency landing'

Traumatised flyers have described an 'abysmal' experience with TUI at Manchester Airport which involved 30 hour delays and some begging to go home. One plane that did manage to take off had to make an emergency landing, leaving children 'petrified'.

Hundreds of passengers arrived at the airport in the early hours of Friday morning (June 24) excited for an all-inclusive TUI holiday to Dalaman in Turkey, with the flight set to leave at 6.10am. Repeated delays meant the flight did not take off until 9pm, but passengers soon knew something was not right.

Fumes or smoke could be smelt onboard with passengers alerted an hour into the flight that there was a fault with the plane and they would need to turn back to Manchester for a potential 'emergency landing'. This left many onboard 'petrified' and the plane was greeted by fire engines after landing.

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However, it would be another hour before people were let off the plane and after this there was another wait for coaches to take passengers to hotels across Manchester. Some were notified to be ready for a coach to pick them up around 5am for their next flight, but this never arrived, with people having to fork out for taxis back to the airport. This 9am flight was once again delayed until the afternoon.

Many on board who had to face this ordeal have contacted the Manchester Evening News to slam TUI, who they claim left passengers in the dark throughout the 30 plus hours. Patience was beginning to 'wear thin', according to one, while families with young kids were struggling to cope.

Maria Cooper, who is travelling with her partner, described the situation