Passengers stranded in airport stairwell as Jet2 flight takes off without them

Passengers were left “gobsmacked” after a Jet2 flight to Spain left them behind at Manchester airport on Monday morning.

The plane from Manchester to Alicante departed without more than 30 holidaymakers in a stairwell mix-up.

Around 35 travellers found themselves waiting in a dead-end space for up to 40 minutes after showing staff their boarding passes at the departure gate.

Those left behind had taken a wrong turn down the steps instead of following the air bridge to the Airbus A321 aircraft.

Matt, a passenger from Denton, told Manchester Evening News he was “gobsmacked” about the situation after he and his son made their way through the airport with time to spare.

He claimed Jet2 staff had told him that it had “never happened before” after the group of travellers waited for a staff member to open the doors to board the aircraft.

Matt said: “And then we're thinking 'why aren't these doors open?’ We thought a bus would come for us and take us to the plane.”

The left behind traveller added: “I am gobsmacked at the fact they don't do a headcount.”

Flight LS879 departed from Manchester’s Terminal 3 at around 7am as scheduled for the two-hour and 45-minute flight.

The airline said it is investigating the incident as a “matter of urgency” with the airport.

Alternative flights to Alicante were arranged for all impacted travellers.

A £10 voucher from Jet2 was also offered while waiting to find out when the next flight to Alicante would be available, reported the Manchester Evening News.

A spokesperson for Jet2 said yesterday: “We are aware that flight LS879 from Manchester to Alicante departed without some customers this morning, and we are investigating this as a matter of urgency with the airport.

“Our team are looking after these customers, and we have already arranged for them to take other flights to Alicante today. We would of course like to apologise to these customers."

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