London: In a bizarre mix-up, a couple looking to travel to the Spanish city of Granada boarded a flight from London but landed over 6,400 km away from their intended destination in the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Edward Gamson, an American dentist, and his partner, were looking to relax and enjoy the architectural treasures of the Spanish town of Granada as they boarded a British Airways flight en route to the capital of Moorish Spain.
It was only when they glanced at the electronic map on the in-flight entertainment system and noticed their plane was heading due west out of London that they became concerned something was not right.
Some nine hours later, the pair found themselves not among the arabesques of the Alhambra Palace but over 6,400 km away from their intended destination, on the Caribbean holiday island of Grenada, The Independent reported.
It is alleged that BA’s American booking agents in Florida made the error.
According to the damages claim filed before the US courts by Gamson, the electronic tickets referred only to “Grenada”, without showing the airport code, destination country or flight duration.
The mix-up initially resulted in apologies from British Airways staff on board the flight, and a promise that the couple would be put on the plane’s return trip to Gatwick en route to Granada.
Instead, they were subjected to a further three-day ordeal which resulted in them never reaching Spain, and a refusal by British Airways (BA) to reimburse their 2,650 pound first-class tickets. This is now the subject of a damages claim before the US courts.
Gamson is not the first Granada-bound BA passenger to find him or herself in the Caribbean.
A week before Gamson’s flight, Lamenda Kingdon from Plymouth, Devon, who had booked a flight to Spain as part of a “bucket list” of things to do, after she was diagnosed with cancer, also found herself in Grenada.
