Trinidad Express
Stranded
Foreigners stuck in T&T after Carnival
Anna-Lisa Paul alpaul@trinidadexpress.com
Monday, February 26th 2007 A number of foreign visitors have been left stranded in Trinidad and Tobago after Carnival celebrations.
Despite having confirmed tickets to return to their respective countries, passengers could not depart Piarco International Airport yesterday because local carrier
Caribbean Airlines overbooked flights leaving the country.Several passengers, who came to Trinidad for Carnival last week, said they had been turned back at Piarco a number of times starting from Ash Wednesday.
They said they were told to return to the airport to catch another flight the next day but when they arrived, these flights were also fully booked.
Frustrated passengers said they were told by airline officials that they will have to spend at another week in the country, as seats will only become available on March 2. 
Passengers said they were also told they would have to pay extra to get a seat because there were no guarantees their current tickets would be honoured. 
A number of the stranded passengers said their jobs were now in jeopardy as they had already overstayed their vacation time in Trinidad.
Some of the visitors complained yesterday about the treatment meted out to them by airline officials.
At Piarco Airport yesterday, passengers were seen leaving the check-in counter, dragging their luggage behind them as they exited the doors to explain to family members what was happening.
Visitors also complained that they were not offered any kind of compensation by airline staff.
Leonard Hinds, a Trinidadian living in New York for the last nine years, feared that he would not have a job when he returned to the United States.
"I had a confirmed ticket and was supposed to leave Trinidad on February 23," he said.
Instead, Hinds, who was expected to return to his job as a technician with Yost and Campbell today, had been making the journey to the airport every day in the hope that he could get a flight.
He said he had been "bumped" from Caribbean Airlines's BW 526 flight departing Piarco last Friday. Hinds said the same thing occurred when he attempted to come to Trinidad on February 10.
He arrived in Trinidad on February 11, after being told the day before that the flight had been overbooked.
He has spent much of his time during the last few days travelling to the airport and back.
Margaret Welling, a teacher at the Cathedral School at Winchester, Hampshire, UK, was expected to resume her duties today as well.
Up to 2 p.m. yesterday, she was at the airport praying for her and partner, Clyde Paris, to get on a flight heading to Gatwick International Airport.
Welling and Paris had spent a week in St Kitts with their daughter, and after being sent to Barbados and then Trinidad to get a flight, the upset couple said they "get the impression that nobody cares".
Welling and Paris said they were also anxious about the type of treatment that could be meted out to visitors for the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
They said they had been given purple "Caricom bands" to wear around their wrists but the couple questioned the reason behind it as they believed that "nothing works".
Caribbean Airlines corporate communications director Dionne Ligoure was in London yesterday when she was contacted for comment.
She said she did not have information on the passengers and would have to contact the airline's local office for an update.
An industry source confirmed that the airline had overbooked flights and had been trying to accommodate passengers who were left behind.
