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Holidays on hold as travellers await news

Lauren Turner,Press Association
Friday 16 April 2010 09:18 BST
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Passengers put their dream holidays on hold for a second day as flights remained suspended across the UK today.

At Heathrow's Terminal Three, they sat with their luggage as they waited for information, despite being told not to travel to the airport.

Some had slept on the green seats in the arrivals hall overnight, while others came this morning simply because they had nowhere else to go.

The departures hall was deserted, except for airline staff standing outside, with no passengers allowed through, instead being diverted to arrivals.

Debbie Eidsforth, 36, who had been visiting family in Preston, Lancashire, was trying to head home to Adelaide, Australia, via Hong Kong.

Her journey started yesterday morning when she travelled from Manchester to Heathrow by train - her flight having been cancelled.

She said: "I just stayed here, because my friend in Preston called around hotels for me but they were all full.

"I had paid 5,500 for my flights, but it doesn't matter what class you fly in, everyone's in the same situation.

"I just slept here on the seats, and there were quite a few other people dotted around. They should really have bought blankets and coffee around for us.

"At the end of the day, this is nobody's fault but it's very frustrating when there's no communication."

Barbara and Tony Mallinder had left their home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, at 1am, understanding their flight to Shanghai would leave later this afternoon.

They are due to leave on a cruise around Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan on Sunday, but now fear they won't make it.

Mr Mallinder said: "If we don't get there, it's not going to wait for us. We'd be stuck in no man's land."

His wife added: "We didn't know it would still be shut. Unlike other people, we can't go 48 hours later and have the rest of our holiday.

"But it can't be helped. They can't send the planes up if it's dangerous."

Student Hannah Miller, 21, from Sheffield, was meant to be flying to Brisbane, Australia, to see friends she met while travelling last year.

She said: "We came down this morning as we'd been booked in a hotel overnight. But now we're here, and we've got nowhere to go.

"Last night was stressful, but now we've just had to wake up and get on with it."

Her friend Jessica White, 23, said: "I'm just fed up. We've got nowhere to go and nothing to do, and no-one's telling us anything.

"We got told to go home, but we can't do that as it's such a long way away, and we want to be here when the flight comes up."

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