Holidaymakers' fury after Monarch Airlines flight from Tenerife to Birmingham was delayed for 38 hours over hydraulic leak

Monarch Airlines has apologized to nearly 200 holidaymakers who were forced to spend an extra day and a half on a Spanish island after their flight was cancelled due to a hydraulic leak.

Angry passengers claimed they didn't receive timely information when the sudden flight cancellation led to a 38-hour delay in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

After spending a week at all-inclusive resorts, they said they waited hours before they found out they would be put up in hotels overnight and flown home to Birmingham the following day.

While being stuck on an island may not seem like such a bad thing, some on board lost a day's work because of the delay.

Passengers were supposed to fly out at 12:40 am on Tuesday, but did not return to Birmingham Airport until 7 pm on Wednesday.

Jean Stenson, of Solihull, said passengers became suspicious when holidaymakers who were given priority boarding, including some in wheelchairs, were taken off the plane.

They eventually learned the plane was unable to take off.

Holidaymakers encountered further problems when they tried to check into a hotel. She said she had to stand in a queue for at least an hour because there weren't enough employees on hand to check everyone in.

She added: 'We were still kept in the dark about when we were going home.

'Next day we were told to wait outside the hotel at 11 am for a coach to take us back to the airport. We stood in the baking sun for two hours before it eventually arrived.'

Some passengers were so fed up with the situation they decided to pay for a taxi to the airport.

Another holidaymaker from Birmingham, who did not want to be named, said: 'The organisation was deplorable. No one kept us informed.

'We finally left Tenerife at 3 pm. We were not even given free drinks on the plane as consolation and we had a nightmare landing at Birmingham because of strong winds. It was the icing on the cake.'

Pete Swingler, from Birmingham, said: 'It was badly organised because no one told us what was going on.'

A Monarch Airlines spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'The aircraft developed a technical issue down route in Tenerife. Engineers were dispatched to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

'However, this resulted is the flight stopping in Tenerife and operating back to the UK the following day.

'Our customers were transported to a local hotel and given accommodation including meals and beverages. They were also given vouchers to use in the airports food outlets during the delay.

'Our engineers resolved the issue as quickly as possible and although this resulted in a delay to the flights return to the UK, the safety of our customers, crew and aircraft is our first priority. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.'

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