Some 300 Belgian tourists who have been stranded in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica since Thursday are finally on their way home. A malfunction to the Tui Fly aircraft they were supposed to return to Belgium on and scarcity of a replacement plane had led to the extended holiday.
Last Thursday, around 200 Belgians were supposed to board a Tui Fly Boeing 787-8, make a layover in Jamaica, where another about 100 passengers were to board the same flight, then head to Brussels. However, after a delay of several hours, the passengers were finally announced the flight was cancelled due to a technical problem with the aircraft’s breaking equipment.
As the necessary spare part for repairing the plane was unavailable inf the Dominican Republic, the travellers had to wait for Tui to send the part from London. The company also sent an engineer along with the required equipment, but, despite all efforts, the Boeing was still unable to operate the flight, so passengers had to wait until a different plane would be sent to fly them back home.
“We are trying to find a solution as quickly as possible”, a Tui spokesperson said at the time. “Initially, we sent parts to repair the plane, but unfortunately that didn’t work. We are now trying to find a plane to bring these people back as quickly as possible.”
On Sunday afternoon, a back-up plane was finally sent to the island, tourists stuck in Dominican Republic taking off later that night. They have just landed in Brussels shortly before noon today, Tui told Belga news agency. The remaining 100 passengers are bound to fly back tonight and reach Belgium tomorrow morning.
“Some of the passengers from the other group are already on their way; the others will leave tonight and arrive on Tuesday”, a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also confirmed that passengers “will receive €600 in compensation on their return to Belgium”, as well as having had accommodation ensured for the extra stay in the Caribbean at an all-inclusive resort.