PASSENGERS left stranded for up to six days after a plane travelling from New York to Liverpool broke down have been told they will not be refunded if they paid for alternative flights home.

Scottish budget operator Fly-globespan has told passengers it will consider requests for compen-sation caused by cancellation of services between John Lennon Airport and New York, but will not refund tickets bought by people who flew home sooner.

That is despite intervention from the Irish Prime Minister, after Flyglobespan’s service from JLA to New York was struck by lightning on Thursday, June 28, as it came into land at JFK airport in New York.

The return flight on Thursday was cancelled due to technical problems caused by the lightning strike, as was the Friday service. The operator then cancelled the Saturday service to Liverpool because JLA had been shut due to a security alert.

But flights for July 1, July 2 and July 3 were also cancelled as repairs had not been completed on the leased Boeing 757 jet.

Passengers on cancelled flights were given hotel rooms and repeatedly shuttled between their rooms and the airport terminal at JFK, but they claim they were often left to find information out for themselves.

Dozens opted to pay for new tickets on alternative operators back to the UK, claiming they did not trust Flyglobespan to get them home at all.

Stephen Elmy, Flyglobespan’s general manager for North America, said: “Displaced custom-ers could request refunds of their Flyglobespan fares, but we’re not going to be refunding what they paid other airlines, because they were offered a seat on the first flight we operated and were put up in hotels. We did arrange flights for a number of people with various airlines.”

Under US law, Flyglobespan would not have to refund extra costs, and even under more friendly EU rules, both the lightning strike and the security alert could count as “emergenc-ies,” which would also exempt the airline from compensation.

Passengers who contacted the Daily Post from New York asking for information about the cancell-ations said they had not been kept informed. Some paid up to £700 to fly home with other airlines.

A similar situation emerged in June when passengers who asked for refunds were told to claim under their travel insurance.

Flyglobespan has since announced it is suspending its JLA to New York service from the end of October, blaming poor ticket sales. It was only launched in May but has suffered repeated delays. Airport bosses in Liverpool are hopeful the airline will try again next summer.

The repeated delays at JFK received widespread coverage across America. And it has been revealed that Irish passengers even roped in their prime minister, Bertie Ahern, to try and get the airline to help them.

Nick Reddy, assistant private secretary to Mr Ahern in Dublin, said that Mr Ahern spoke with a lawyer due to fly with the company, Desmond O’Carroll, by phone.

Mr Ahern then dispatched staff from the Irish embassy in New York to the airport, but could not find anyone from Flyglobespan to help.

The Irish consulate in Edinburgh has also asked Flyglobespan to explain what happened.

davidhiggerson