More Dundee holidaymakers say they are “furious” after being left stranded by an airport bus.
At least three early-morning services have failed to turn up in recent days.
Dozens of people who flew into Edinburgh Airport were left to find alternative transport early on Tuesday when the Fly bus – run by Xplore Dundee – failed to show.
It came after a similar incident at 3am last Thursday when families and groups heading on stag dos were forced to pay for taxis when the bus failed to turn up in Dundee city centre, without warning.
The Courier also reported last week how one couple had been forced to fork out £130 for a taxi the previous weekend when another early-morning service was cancelled.
Among those affected on Tuesday was Lesley Dorward – who had already been disrupted at the start of her holiday when severe weather on the Portuguese island of Madeira forced her to be diverted.
She told The Courier: “It was a disastrous end to a fabulous holiday in Madeira with my husband and two friends.
“Our flight had arrived 20 minutes early and we had hoped to catch the earlier bus at midnight, but missed it by a few minutes, although maybe that was cancelled too.
“We had a 90-minute wait in Starbucks until the 1.30am bus.”
Lesley says there were 20 to 30 people waiting for the service back to Dundee – one of whom was an Xplore employee who had been informed by a colleague that the Fly buses were not running.
Taxi cost £152 after Dundee Fly bus cancelled
She said: “We then hurried to Ingliston Park and Ride for the Ember bus but again, missed it by a few minutes.
“We considered waiting nearly two hours for the next (Fly) bus but we were all cold, tired and miserable by this time and one of our party was working at 6am today.
“Also, there were youths hanging about, and we felt uncomfortable waiting in a deserted car park.
“We decided to take a taxi, which cost us £152, but we were home before we would have got on the bus.
“I am furious with the company for leaving us in this situation.”
Despite Xplore bus drivers being on strike, Fly buses are supposed to be running as normal during the industrial action.
One man who was booked on the bus from Dundee city centre to the airport last Thursday says he and his wife were also forced to fork out £150 for a taxi.
The passenger, who asked not to be named, said: “It got to 3am and no bus had appeared – I had an inkling that something was not right.
“Just after 3am we gave up, because the bus is usually there waiting – I’ve used the service before.
“There had been no update to their website, there were no notifications.
“There must have been about 70 or 80 people waiting.”
‘It was every man for himself to get a taxi’
He says passengers quickly made their way to nearby taxi ranks in a bid to catch their flights.
He added: “It was a snooze, you lose situation.
“It was every man for themselves but I was hoping that every family did get away.
“There were families with really young children laden with luggage who weren’t fitting into one taxi because of all their suitcases.”
The man claims he has since been unable to get compensation for the cancelled bus from Xplore, with the travel centre and phone lines disrupted by the strike action.
The Courier has contacted Xplore Dundee for comment.
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