Holidaymakers who got stuck at Norwich Airport, losing out on two days of their holiday, are demanding compensation from TUI.
Customers have slammed TUI for the lack of communication throughout the lengthy delay.
One of the many disgruntled passengers was Dr Roger Catchpole, who was travelling from Norwich Airport with his family of 10.
He said: "Obviously we were all full of excitement.
"We paid nearly £10,000 for a package that would cater to our needs - especially those of the four children.
"However when we arrived at Norwich Airport at 5pm on Friday we obviously had no idea how bad the experience would be."
The family had to book themselves into the airport Holiday Inn because "TUI had not been in contact and no accommodation had been offered" after Dr Catchpole and his family were told the flight had been delayed.
He added: "After being told to go home at around 10.30pm on Friday the children were devastated.
"On Saturday we checked in again but spent the day in the departure lounge watching for updates.
"By Saturday night we were all physically and emotionally drained.
"TUI effectively abandoned their customers when it went wrong."
A TUI spokeswoman said: "We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on LAV5480 from Norwich Airport to Palma which was unfortunately delayed due to a technical issue with the aircraft.
"All compensation claims must go through AlbaStar – our team is in the process of contacting customers to advise how they can do this."
But after eventually arriving communication was still not clear between the family and TUI.
Dr Catchpole said: "When we checked in on Sunday we were told that we must complain, not to TUI, but to AlbaStar - the aircraft operator.
"Yet our package holiday was booked through TUI.
"We had no contractual agreement directly or indirectly with AlbaStar so this is another example of how TUI believe they have no accountability for failure and their attempt to transfer responsibility elsewhere.
"It’s not good enough that TUI apologises because it’s holiday memories that are ruined, which stay with customers for a lifetime, but they'll forget and move on."
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