Fuming easyJet passengers have accused the troubled airline of not cleaning their planes properly as they share photos of used tissues and dirty trays.
Travellers claim they found dirt and detritus in their seats, despite flight crew assuring them that a deep clean had taken place prior to boarding.
The complaints come as the airline industry faces the greatest crisis in its history, with easyJet among other airlines forced to lay off staff after their planes were effectively mothballed by the Government during the coronavirus pandemic.
In one case, the Farrow family shared photos which appeared to show tray tables stained with white marks, and crumbs strewn across the carpet.
Flying from Catania, Italy to Bristol on Monday, they tweeted: ‘easyJet, could you explain what you mean at the start of the flight when you say, the plane has been cleaned with special anti bacterial cleaning products and we walk on with this?
‘There was hair on every seat and on the floor. Please explain?’
Fuming easyJet passengers have accused the troubled airline of not cleaning their planes properly as they share photos of used tissues and dirty trays
Travellers claim that they found dirt and detritus in their seats, despite flight crew assuring them that a deep clean had taken place prior to boarding
Fuming easyJet passengers have accused the troubled airline of not cleaning their planes properly as they share photos of used tissues and dirty trays
Their son Max said: ‘The state of the plane was disgusting. And the flight attendants said how they had fully cleaned the plane before we got on.
‘There was also one person at check in for 400 people which was ridiculous.’
Another easyJet passenger – Laura Mitchell, from Brighton – was left ‘horrified’ by her flight from Gatwick to Nice, France on August 22.
Sharing a photo of a tray table smeared in leftover food and crumbs, she angrily tweeted: ‘I would like to make a complaint about how dirty the plane was on my flight from Nice to Gatwick yesterday morning.
‘This was how we found all three tray tables in our row. The plane had obviously not been cleaned between flights and given the Covid pandemic I was horrified.’
One customer shared photos of used tissues left in the seat pockets and stained tray tables on the plane which took her from Turkey to Bristol on August 25.
The teacher, from Newport, Gwent, complained: ‘Very disappointing and concerning to see no cleaning on the BJV-BRS flight yesterday evening.
‘Dirty tissues left and tray tables not cleaned!’
A teacher, from Newport, complained: ‘Very disappointing and concerning to see no cleaning on the BJV-BRS flight yesterday evening. Dirty tissues left and tray tables not cleaned!’
Another easyJet passenger – Laura Mithcell, from Brighton – was left ‘horrified’ by her flight from Gatwick to Nice, France on August 22. Sharing a photo of a tray table smeared in leftover food and crumbs, she angrily tweeted: ‘I would like to make a complaint about how dirty the plane was on my flight from Nice to Gatwick yesterday morning’
Flying from Catania, Italy to Bristol on Monday, the Farrow family tweeted: ‘easyJet, could you explain what you mean at the start of the flight when you say, the plane has been cleaned with special anti bacterial cleaning products and we walk on with this?’
A spokeswoman was forced to issue a grovelling apology for the mess on behalf of the airline (pictured: Airbus A319 of easyJet arrival to PRG Airport in Prague on July 21, 2019)
And another Twitter user, @leon-est1983, vented about the same problem on his flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Gatwick on August 16.
He shared a snap showing how his seat area was littered with waste and old food, some of which had been ground into the carpet. ‘Dirty Plane, would it be too much to clean the aircraft before passengers get on?’ he tweeted.
Today, easyJet issued a grovelling apology for the mess. A spokeswoman said: ‘Crew tidy the cabin between each flight and customers can alert our crew to any issues and they will always assist should any further cleaning be required.
‘Crew collect rubbish throughout each flight and ask that passengers take any remaining rubbish with them when they leave the aircraft.
‘We know this is important to our customers so we are sorry that the high standards they have come to expect were not met on these occasions.
‘The safety and well being of our customers and crew is our highest priority. We have implemented enhanced safety measures due to the pandemic including mandatory masks onboard and enhanced daily cleaning and disinfection proven to protect against coronavirus for at least 24 hours.
‘In fact, recent customer research has shown that our customers have been extremely satisfied with the cleanliness of the aircraft since flying resumed.’
Moment easyJet passenger is escorted off plane at Glasgow Airport after refusing to wear mask during flight from Luton
By James Robinson for MailOnline
This is the moment an easyJet passenger is removed from a plane by police after ‘refusing to wear a face mask’.
Social media footage shows three officers boarding the easyJet flight from after it had arrived at Glasgow International Airport from Luton.
One officer is seen to approach a row of seated passengers before saying: ‘Hi folks, are you ready to go?’
The officer then asks the passenger to grab their bags before a man, seen wearing a blue face mask, then walks to the front of the plane.
The footage then shows a woman being show off the plane with the officers following.
The officer then asks the passenger to grab their bags before a man, seen wearing a blue face mask, then walks to the front of the plane
Today, easyJet has said that it called police after a passenger refused to wear a face covering, despite guidelines which state masks must be worn onboard for safety.
The budget airline said staff called the police after the passenger became disruptive.
Meanwhile, police say a man has been given a recorded warning.
An EasyJet spokesman said: ‘EasyJet can confirm that police attended flight EZY77 from London Luton to Glasgow on Sunday, August 30 due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard and refusing to wear their face mask.
‘In line with new guidelines, all passengers are currently required to bring their own face mask for their flight which must be worn during boarding and onboard.
‘EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
‘Whilst such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously, and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour on board.
‘The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is our highest priority.’
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm that one man was issued with a recorded police warning in connection with a disturbance during the flight on an Easyjet flight from London Luton to Glasgow on Sunday August 30.’
The incident comes days after a suspected Covid-infected passenger was dragged off a plane by Hazmat-suited medics.
Hazmat-clad officials boarded a plane in London Stansted after a passenger received a text from track-and-trace minutes before take off. The flight was bound for Pisa
The passenger showed ‘no symptoms’ and received a text only seconds before take-off ‘saying he was positive’, a fellow flyer has claimed.
The Ryanair flight was allowed to make its journey from Stansted to Italy after the dramatic incident, which saw no other travellers asked to self-isolate on arrival, according to Fionn Murphy, from west London.
The 21-year-old, who spoke previously of his shock that he was able to complete the trip to Pisa, where he could be unknowingly walking around with coronavirus.
The passenger revealed how the plane was seconds from take off after reversing, ready to taxi to the runway before the dramatic intervention.
He told the Sun: ‘The doors were shut, we were ready to fly… it was literally last minute.’
‘I got up and walked towards the back of the plane to grab one of the empty seats back there and the air hostess told me to sit down as we were just about to take off. And then everything stopped.’
‘At first I thought it may have been because of the result of a temperature check, but I didn’t remember there being any.’
The allegedly infected person and his travel companion were taken off the aircraft and moved to the airport’s isolation area, where they were met by health authorities.
Their seats and the overhead cabin were disinfected before the plane was allowed to fly to Pisa an hour and 40 minutes behind schedule, according to Flight Radar.
The passenger, who has not been named, breached coronavirus quarantine restrictions by leaving their home and boarding the flight.
Last month a fight broke out on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Ibiza after two passengers refused to wear face masks.
Footage appears to show two English passengers brawling after the flight took off from Amsterdam on Friday
The pilot notified local authorities and two men were arrested when the flight arrived in Ibiza
KLM requires passengers to wear a face mask from the first boarding call until passengers have gone through the arrival gate at their destination.
Footage appears to show two English-speaking passengers brawling after the flight took off from Amsterdam.
Both men were restrained with the help of other passengers and were later arrested by Spanish police on arrival in Ibiza after the pilot informed local authorities, according to The Independent.
What is included in the EASA rules for safety in airports and on planes?
Under measures from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), anyone who is not travelling or working in an airport is not be allowed inside the terminal, meaning people have to say goodbye to loved ones outside.
Once inside, travellers are expected to take precautions, such as wearing face masks and washing hands, and to follow ‘respiratory etiquette’ – covering the face when sneezing or coughing. Anyone who does not follow the rules risks being kicked out of the airport.
They should also observe physical distancing measures by keeping 1.5 meters away from others, with floor markings placed to show people where to stand.
In a photo issued by Heathrow, a member of staff at the airport hands out face masks during an operations test, May 21
However, John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, pointed out that a queue for a jumbo jet would be 1 kilometer long if the 1.5 meter distance were observed.
In the event that such distancing measures are not possible, the EASA rules state that the airport should increase other measures, such as hand hygiene.
The EASA has said airports should arrange interview booths for anyone who is found to have a temperature above 38C when screened, but acknowledged that temperature is not a particularly effective metric to spot the virus with, and therefore booths would act more as a deterrent.
Other measures at airports include all staff wearing protective face masks, and giving them to any passengers who do not have one, as well as adding plastic screens at check desks and security check areas.
All security staff should be wearing masks, and could also be wearing face shields when performing body checks.
Hand luggage rules could become even stricter in a bid to reduce boarding time and the risk of infection at gates, and passengers could be offered incentives to take less with them on flights, such as discounted rates for storing baggage in the hold.
Signs at London, Heathrow inform travellers of temperature checks being trialed as part of a programme looking at technology that could be used to limit the transmission of coronavirus
The numbers of other methods of transport involved in air travel, such as buses to and from the aircraft, should be increased, the EASA recommended, in order to reduce overcrowding.
On-board, aircraft would be disinfected between all flights, and the EU body has asked for airlines to upgrade air filtration systems to clean the air in the cabin.
Passengers will be required to wear masks on the flight, and should be discarded every four hours, meaning on longer flights people will have to swap out their masks for new ones.
In order to reduce the number of people using the on-board toilets and therefore queuing in the isles, the EASA recommended that food and rink services are reduced, with no duty-free sales on the flight.
Upon arrival, passengers could be subject to thermal screening, and airlines have been asked to provide health authorities with a ‘passenger locator card’ if requested for contact tracing purposes, which would give details of the passengers name, seat number and contact details.
The EASA rules do not include a quarantine period for arrivals or the use of immunity passports.