Northampton holidaymaker criticises major airline for 'not listening' to terror threat concerns

A Northampton holidaymaker has criticised a major airline for ‘not listening’ to his fears of a ‘likely’ terrorist attacks in the country he was due to visit.

Tim Hillery, from Abington, had booked a £1,200, three-night trip away to Copenhagen, Denmark with his family to celebrate his 23rd wedding anniversary and his children’s successful exam results.

However, on Friday, August 18, a day before the family were due to fly out, the UK Government’s Foreign Office raised the terror threat level in Denmark to four out of five, which means an attack is ‘likely’.

The threat was raised after far-right groups in Denmark had been burning Islam’s holy book, the Qu’ran.

The 49-year-old had been eagerly looking forward to his vacation, but the sudden spike in security concerns prompted him to reconsider his plans for his own safety and peace of mind.

Tim said: "The night we were due to fly, the Foreign Office raised the threat to level four and said it’s likely there will be a terrorist attack. I was going with my family so I really didn’t want to fly. I didn’t feel safe to fly. The Government says we’re well within our rights to not travel there.”

Tim reached out to EasyJet, the airline with which he had booked his flight, in hopes of cancelling his trip and rescheduling to a different destination.

He said: "I just wanted to swap flights to a different destination. Surely they can understand I don’t want to take my family to a place with a four out of five terror threat?

"They told me to ring customer services the next day at 8am, my flight was at 7am. I gave them a good eight hours notice. There were plenty of other flights to another destination."

Tim's and his family decided to travel to Gatwick at 4am, hoping to speak to someone from Easy Jet at the airport.

However, Tim's encounter with EasyJet's customer service at the airport proved to be equally frustrating.

He said: "They said all they could do was log me on the system and put down the reason why I didn't get on the flight.

"My daughter got on the phone to Easy Jet at 8am for four hours, getting passed pillar to post. They kept making up all these things. The bottom line was all they wanted to do was give me a no-show letter, which basically says you didn’t turn up and you can use this to help your insurance claim – that just lets Easy Jet off the hook.

"They didn’t listen to a word I said about the terror threat. They couldn’t care less. They said the foreign office hadn’t advised people not to travel. But the terror threat had increased to ‘likely’. They weren’t interested.

Tim now wants an apology from the airline and to warn others.

He said: "I’d like a proper apology and for EasyJet to get better customer service. I think it’s very unreasonable of them, and I’m sure I’m not the only one this has affected."

An easyJet holidays spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry to hear Mr Hillery chose to cancel his holiday to Copenhagen. We very closely monitor FCDO advice and if there are no travel restrictions, our customers can continue their holiday as planned. If our customers choose to cancel their holiday within 28 days of their travel date, we encourage them to get in touch with their insurance provider.”

At the time of writing, Tuesday (September 5), the UK Government’s website say ‘there is a high threat of terrorist attack globally affecting UK interests and British nationals’ in Denmark.