Andy and Katya Wedlake were bound for Montenegro when they received disappointing news about their flight at Gatwick Airport in the U.K.
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NEED TO KNOW
- Newlywed couple Andy and Katya Wedlake claim they were forced to fly separately to their honeymoon due to a frustrating airline policy
- They were bound for Montenegro when they received disappointing news about their flight at Gatwick Airport in the U.K.
- While the couple was later compensated for the inconvenience, Andy said, “For me, that doesn’t cover the stress, the sadness of being apart from my new wife, or the wasted time”
A newlywed couple was excited to jet off on their dream honeymoon when they received some disappointing news at the airport.
After tying the knot in the U.K., Andy and Katya Wedlake planned a celebratory trip to Tivat on the coast of Montenegro, per The Telegraph. They booked their flight out of London months in advance.
On the morning of Sunday, July 26, they tried to check in for their 8:25 a.m. flight online, but had no luck. When they later arrived at the easyJet desk at Gatwick Airport, they learned that their flight was overbooked.
“They could only give us seats once boarding had closed — and if other people didn’t turn up to the flight,” Andy recalled.
Airline staff at the departure gate asked if anyone would be interested in traveling the following morning, and only one person volunteered, freeing up a single seat on the Sunday flight.
At that point, Andy and Katya assumed they would be bumped to a flight on Monday. Instead, however, Andy said easyJet staff told the couple that “either my wife or I had to take that seat, otherwise we would count as a ‘no show’ and would lose all rights for rebooking and any compensation.”
“So my wife got on the flight, and I stayed behind,” Andy told The Telegraph. He returned to their home in London while Katya flew to Tivat alone. They were reunited 21 hours later once Andy got to Montenegro and finally began their honeymoon.
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An easyJet spokesperson told PEOPLE that the airline got in touch with the couple to apologize for their experience and provide Andy “with the compensation he is due and offer a gesture of goodwill.”
“We are very sorry for Mr. and Mrs. Wedlake’s experience and the difficulty this caused for their honeymoon,” the spokesperson added in a statement. “Like most airlines, we sometimes overbook a very small proportion of flights and in the significant majority of cases do not result in denying boarding as we use data to select flights with a history of customers not travelling. By filling these seats, it helps to keep fares lower for everyone.”
“In the rare event a customer can’t travel, we take our responsibilities seriously and seek volunteers to travel on a later flight in exchange for compensation. Where this is not possible, a decision is made based on order of check-in,” the statement continued. “While a seat was available for one passenger, we are sorry that an exception was not made on this occasion to book an alternative flight for them together, especially as it was such a special trip.”
According to easyJet’s air passenger rights, Andy is entitled to £350 (about $470) for being denied boarding on his original flight.
“For me that doesn’t cover the stress, the sadness of being apart from my new wife, the loss of one full day in Tivat, or the wasted time,” he told The Telegraph.
He added, “I understand easyJet’s terms and conditions allow them to do this kind of thing, but I’m shocked they do it to destinations where they only put on one flight per day — and that they would not be able to predict this flight on a Sunday morning in summer would have a high attendance rate.”
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