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Agency’s swift actions help teenagers caught up in Brussels airport lockdown
Agents at Barrhead Travel have managed to assist a group of teenagers who were due to fly home from Brussels yesterday morning.
The group of 21 on an educational trip, all aged 16-18, had arrived by train at Brussels Airport just as the airport was being evacuated after two explosions.
Meanwhile a staff member of Barrhead Travel, about to leave home to go to work, heard news about the explosions and managed to get on to the agency’s internal disaster recovery system to see which customers might be affected.
Calls were quickly made to establish the group were safe in a cafe and alternative flights were immediately booked from Amsterdam Schiphol.
With public transport on lockdown, Barrhead arranged private coach transportation from Amsterdam to go to Brussels to pick up the group.
A member of Barrhead staff, based in Glasgow, is flying out to meet them at Amsterdam with their new boarding passes for an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin this evening.
"They’re going to help them and get their luggage through. They’re probably very distressed," said Jacqueline Dobson, MD for Barrhead Travel’s Glasgow store.
She said all costs would be covered by the agency and the incident demonstrates how travellers are much better protected if they book through an agent or operator rather than independently.
A spokeswoman for Barrhead Travel added it was now offering alternatives for customers set to travel to Brussels in the coming days.
* Have you also assisted customers caught up in yesterday’s events in Brussels? Or have you been directly affected? Please tell us your stories by clicking on POST YOUR COMMENT below.
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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