'Airline turned bike trip into the Tour de Farce'
IT was supposed to be a charity cycle ride along one of the most famous routes in the world.
But when budget airline easyJet left a group of riders in France without their bikes it turned into the Tour de Farce.
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Doctor Kate Rush, 31, and her husband Mark, who live in Dundry, were among a group of riders who applied to take part in stage 17 of the Tour de France.
They booked their tickets through the airline last year including paying an extra £35 to put their bikes in the hold.
But as the plane taxied along the runway at Bristol a member of the group spotted his lying on the tarmac.
Dr Rush said: "We left on Friday to travel to France.
"On the plane a friend of mine saw his bike bag on the runway before we departed but was assured by the captain that it could not be his luggage as all the bikes were on board.
"When we got to Toulouse it turns out they had left 21 bike bags behind."
When the group realised they sent Dr Rush's father to the airport in Bristol to speak to easyJet staff.
"My dad was there for two hours," she said. "He was told that the plane had to go in case they missed the slot and that is why the bags were left as obviously they take longer to load.
"He was given 100 per cent assurance they would travel on the next flight and so we'd have them ready for the race on Sunday."
But the group waited in vain until midnight on Saturday and the bikes still hadn't arrived. Eventually they realised they would be unable to take part in the event.
Dr Rush, who works at the Beechwood Medical Practice in Fishponds, said: "It was a complete disaster and if I had been told on Friday that there was no chance of getting the bags that would have been fine. We could have hired the bikes and had a go but as it was we were kept hanging on. One bag was sent out on Sunday but that was too late.
"The ride was the only reason we travelled to Toulouse. We couldn't even bring ourselves to watch the stage on Sunday. People have been so generous and I raised more than £1,000 but I've had to come back and tell them I couldn't do it. It's frustrating."
Andrew McConnell, spokesman for easyJet, said: "We sincerely apologise that due to an unusually high volume of bicycles and bags we were unable to transport all of the bikes on the flight, because the aircraft had reached its maximum take off weight restriction. Unlike our competitors we do not restrict the numbers of bikes, because there is normally plenty of room.
"Our terms and conditions, which passengers agree to at the time of booking state that baggage is 'subject to available space' and on the rare occasions that we are unable to transport luggage, we will deliver it to the passenger via the next available flight, as we did on this occasion."
8 Comments
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by Ron, Bristol
Sunday, July 25 2010, 7:43PM
“Maybe the baggage handlers have started to believe what the Evening Post are trying to make out all the time - that cyclists are the evil of the world”
by chopper topper, choppermead
Sunday, July 25 2010, 3:13PM
“kate is welcome to a ride on my chopper any day !!! "Raleigh Chopper "”
by Bill, Bristol
Saturday, July 24 2010, 2:21PM
“Welcome to Bristol a cycling city... What's the betting the baggage handlers were cut up by cyclists that morning....”
by James, South West
Saturday, July 24 2010, 1:41PM
“Sorry..........it's Sir Stelios of course.”
by James, South West
Saturday, July 24 2010, 1:39PM
“There is a blog somewhere that a similar thing happened recently with a flight from Bristol to Geneva. In that case the people involved saw their bikes being taken away from the aircraft to a shed, raised it with the cabin staff and eventually decided to leave the aircraft themselves and not travel. They were in a cycling competition and it was futile to go without their bikes.
easyJet has deteriorated alarmingly over the past year or two. There has been much written in the national press about delayed and cancelled flights becoming the norm. Major shareholder Sir Stelio has given the new CEO and chairman 90 days to get things right or he will consider removing the right to use the name which he allegedly owns.
The problem is mainly due to insufficient flight deck and cabin staff numbers. The numbers were reduced last year and are now insufficient to cope with peak summer. easyJet has already leased three aircraft and their crews from other airlines to try to cope but is failing dismally.
Barely a day goes by without at least one rotation being cancelled by the airline at Bristol. Weekends are worse. The last two have seen up to eight rotations cancelled each weekend. Already three have been cancelled today (a rotation is a return flight so the number of actual flights, or sectors, cancelled is double the number of rotations).
It's a great shame because easyJet used to be the best of the low-cost airlines.”