SkyGreece takes flight after three-day grounding

TORONTO–Frustrated passengers finally boarded Europe-bound flights at Pearson Airport Thursday afternoon after more than three days waiting for the arrival of SkyGreece planes.

“I’m just glad to be on the plane already,” said a customer who just obtained his boarding pass. “We don’t really understand why it took so long.”

The airline, which began passenger air service in 2014, has not been flying for three days. Toronto passengers have been staying in hotels or with relatives waiting for information about when they might be able to depart.

READ MORE: Can you get compensation for a 3-day flight delay?

“A nightmare, an absolute nightmare,” said a New York city woman who asked not to be identified.

“I’ve been travelling for 40 years, a lot of travelling overseas and have never have I seen anything like this.”

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SkyGreece said in a written statement on its website that the delays were due to “operational considerations.”

But many travellers in Toronto said the new airline failed to deliver accurate or complete information, causing unnecessary anxiety.

“You come here, nothing — the next day again,” said Dorothy Horvatek of Etobicoke, who was hosting guests from Croatia, unable to make their return flight on schedule.

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“It was a complete lack of information, the information wasn’t correct,” said Anna Kurkowska.

“People accept situations when information is shared…it would have been better than lack of knowledge, that’s the worst thing,” she said.

SkyGreece jets finally arrived at Terminal 3 around 2:30 p.m. and departed for Athens and Zagreb, Croatia.

However, many passengers in Europe with confirmed tickets to return to Canada say they won’t be able to depart before next week because of the delays. Some relatives told Global News that competing carriers are charging more than $1100 for one way tickets; many passengers paid less than $900 for return travel from Toronto to Greece on SkyGreece.

Passengers who would like to recover expenses related to the delay can contact SkyGreece on their website. They can also file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, or through the European Union.