London man who missed flight to Eurovision fears 'holiday wasted' after 'senseless' Gatwick Airport evacuation

Michael Sampson is booked on another flight to Malmo but is worried he will miss the semi-final
Norwegian passenger Michael Sampson
Supplied
Sami Quadri9 May 2024

A man travelling to Malmo for the Eurovision Song Contest has accused Norwegian airline of "disgusting" treatment after a fire evacuation in the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport caused him to miss his flight.

Hundreds of people, including some passengers heading to Eurovision 2024’s semi-final at Sweden’s Malmo Arena, were evacuated from the departure lounge after the alarm was activated on Thursday morning.

Michael Sampson, a 39-year-old from Southwark travelling to the international song contest, was among 38 passengers who were prevented from boarding a Norwegian flight to Copenhagen after the evacuation disrupted their plans.

The incident unfolded at around 8.55am while Mr Sampson and his partner were at a café waiting for their flight gate announcement.

Confusion at Gatwick Airport on Thursday after a fire alarm
Jen Taylor

A fire alarm sparked an evacuation, leading them outside the building.

He told the Standard: “We had actually gone out the side that meant when we got back into the airport we had to go back through security. There were hundreds of people we had to get through.”

He said airport staff assured them repeatedly that flights would be held since no staff or passengers could board.

However, after clearing security, Mr Sampson and his partner found the gate closed and were told that the flight had left.

“We tried to argue the point that if you’re taking our luggage off, surely it makes more logical sense to put us on the plane as surely it’d be quicker,” Mr Sampson explained.

Unfortunately, they were told the pilot had decided to depart.

At the airline check-in desk, no assistance was available. The passengers were stuck in limbo, unable to rebook since the flight had not officially left.

London Gatwick’s South Terminal was evacuated causing travel chaos for departing passengers
Kevin Edger

Mr Sampson said: “We’ve booked Eurovision for tonight and we’ve spent a lot of money on hotels, a lot of money on tickets.

“We couldn't rebook as technically we hadn't missed the flight as it hadn't yet left. So we were stuck in this limbo like if the plane’s here why can't we get on it? And if you're telling us to rebook why can't we do that?"

“It was senseless," he added, "and in total 38 passengers were denied boarding and booked on the next flight.”

Mr Sampson said the lack of clear communication between Gatwick and Norwegian made the situation worse.

Norwegian's official stance was to offer no compensation since others made the flight.

“Their logic is if they made the flight, you should be on the flight. But they haven’t factored in that there are people that didn’t evacuate or were evacuated on the side of the airport where you’d have to come back through and not have to go through security,” Mr Sampson.

“It’s possibly a wasted holiday and we may end up not seeing the show we bought tickets to.”

Despite needing to fly with Norwegian to return from Copenhagen, Mr Sampson vowed never to use the airline again due to their lack of respect and poor treatment of passengers.

“It’s appalling. It’s disgraceful. It’s a lack of respect for people who have spent money on tickets for their service,” he said.

A spokesperson for Norwegian said: “There was a fire evacuation at Gatwick today which resulted in several passengers missing their Norwegian flight to Copenhagen.

“We tried to hold the plane at gate as long as possible, but due to crew times we could not delay further without having to cancel the flight.

“All passengers affected by this has been rebooked on the 15.35 flight to Copenhagen which is scheduled to land at 18.25.

“The passengers going to the Eurovision semi-finals in Malmo should be able to reach Malmö arena with time to spare before the show starts at 9 pm. We hope the passengers affected by this has a good flight and a great show tonight.”

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