In a statement, copied to the media, they said they went to Malpensa Airport to take the flight AZ884 to Malta (departing 2:50pm). After waiting for hours, with the estimated departure time of the said flight changing continually, at 8pm they noticed that the flight had been cancelled (because it had disappeared from the flight table). In the end, one of the Alitalia colleagues suggested another flight departing the following day via Frankfurt, which was confirmed and included a replacement ticket.

The six were transferred to Hotel Atlantic in Milan and had a wake-up call at 4am in order to leave the hotel at 5am for Malpensa Airport. The coach was 30 minutes late and they arrived at Malpensa Airport at 6:25am. When they got to the Lufthansa check in desk, they were informed that there were no reservations in their names and they were sent to the Alitalia check in desk.

In the meantime, they lost the flight because it had closed. After several attempts to find an alternative flight, it was finally decided that their flight be replaced with another one via Zurich with the possibility of getting the other flight with AirMalta in the evening (arriving Malta late in the evening).

Some of these passengers were on a tight schedule, some with business meetings or university exams while others complained they had lost time from their vacations.

They are therefore asking to be re-imbursed for damages suffered, estimated at ≠500.00 per person. They said that unless they receive compensation within 10 days from the receipt of the registered letter, they will take legal action and demand moral damages.

They told this paper that the reply they got was that there would be no cash compensation whatsoever. They were only promised, “perhaps”, a discounted ticket if they take another trip with the same airline over the next year. “Hardly the case,” was their reply.