Zoom passenger costs extending to airport hotels

Around 200 Zoom Airlines passengers who were stranded in Halifax, Nova Scotia when the airline collapsed last week, started to scramble for alternative travel arrangements after their 45 minute stopover turned into a nightmare.

The travellers found themselves caught up in the drama of the trans-Atlantic budget carrier’s financial collapse, in a permanent grounding of its aircraft that also saw more than 600 jobs lost in the UK and Canada.

“I don’t want to spend another night in Halifax. I just want to get home,” said one upset passenger as was dragging her luggage through the Halifax Airport, looking for an alternative flight to Ottawa, after nearly a full day on board a Zoom jet.

Ottawa-based Zoom Airlines’ collapse saw its passengers stranded at eight airports located both in Canada and overseas.

The Zoom flight that originated in London and was headed for Ottawa was hit with a mechanical delay on Wednesday, making it necessary for passengers to spend the night in Halifax while the mechanical problem was being corrected - and then the grounding on Thursday when the airline collapsed and all flights were cancelled.

It was nearly midnight on Wednesday when passengers found out they would have to deplane and spend the night at hotels near the Halifax Airport.

“We thought we were stopping in Halifax for 45 minutes and ended up sitting in the aircraft on the tarmac for about seven hours,” said one passenger on the flight about the delay.

In addition to the inconvenience of the unexpected stopover, passengers learned that there was only a single shuttle bus, with a capacity of eight passengers, available to transport them to area hotels, the same passenger reported.

www.flyzoom.com