British Airways passengers left fuming as Seville to Gatwick flight delayed due to faulty curtain

Angry passengers have slammed British Airways (BA) after a flight from Seville to London Gatwick was delayed by around three hours today due to a fault with with a curtain separating business class and economy travellers. 

The flight was set to take off from Seville at 11.30am local time (10.30am in the UK) but did not take off until 2.45pm (1.45pm in the UK). 

People who took the flight from Seville to London told the Evening Standard on Monday afternoon that they had ‘never heard anything so ridiculous’ before they finally took off just more than three hours late. 

BA explained the main cause of delay was foggy conditions which meant the plane would not be able to land in Seville until around 12:30pm local time – more than one hour after it was due to leave. 

On the flight from Seville, Spain, to London, passengers were initially told the delay was caused by foggy weather. They were later informed that a further hold-up was caused by an issue with a curtain dividing economy and first class  

Meanwhile, it has been said that the issues with the curtain were safety related. 

In a statement sent to MailOnline, a spokesman for BA said: ‘We apologised to customers for the delay to their flight which was caused by the aircraft diverting to an alternative airport on its previous journey due to poor visibility.

‘The aircraft has since departed from Seville,’ they added. 

Bewildered passengers were initially told the hold-up was caused by foggy weather but were later informed by staff that there was a second hold-up after an issue with a curtain dividing economy and first class.  

 ‘A separate technical defect was identified which needed rectifying before the aircraft was safe to depart,’ said the spokesman. ‘The aircraft has since departed.’ 

In a statement British Airways said they apologised to customers for the delay which was mainly caused foggy weather. They added that ‘a separate technical defect’ – the faulty curtain – created further delays. [File image] 

While onboard the grounded plane, one angry passenger told the Evening Standard: ‘I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous before as an excuse for a delay. 

‘Wheelchair users were taken on the plane and then off again and then on again.’  

 It has been said that a problem with the curtain left part of the rail structure loose, and could have been dangerous has the plane taken off before it was re-secured. 

Another frustrated passenger named William wrote on Twitter: ‘Sitting at Seville waiting for a delayed flight. Cause of the delay…the curtain between business and euro traveller is broken.

‘Really? Also absolutely no communication from the airport or BA staff.’