Hundreds of Wales football fans due to watch their country play Montenegro on Monday have put their plans on hold after travel organisers said their plane collided with a bird in the sky.
They had been due to leave Cardiff Airport on Friday night, but their flight headed for Cardiff was grounded for safety checks following the “bird strike”.
Tour operator Wonky Sheep had advised its customers to stay at home and await an update while it tried to make alternative plans, but some fans have already booked their own separate flights from London.
“We are trying our best to find a solution,” said the operator, which added in a message to customers: “The aircraft due to take us has been hit by a bird strike and will not be able to fly.”
“Unfortunately, incidents like this happen in aviation and, as much as we tried, everything happened too late to operate the flight as planned.
“We told supporters as soon as we could and ensured those who needed accommodation had somewhere to stay.
“We would never intentionally let our fans down and we are trying our best to find a solution.”
A replacement aircraft was found, but no crew was available from Cardiff Airport.
Wales fans Richard Grigg had been due to travel on the flight to Podgorica in Montenegro from Cardiff Airport, following Wales’ 0-0 game against Turkey at Cardiff City Stadium on Friday evening.
“We received a message at half time during the game last night telling us not to travel to the airport, and advising us to go home,” he said.
“We’re waiting for them to let us know if they’ve arranged a flight and, otherwise, we’ll need to look at other options.
“We’ve paid for this flight with Wonky Sheep and we’d rather get a direct flight from Cardiff. Otherwise we’ll need to travel to London.”
Some fans “haven’t waited and they’ve paid for a different flight from Heathrow”, he added.
“It’s frustrating having to wait for updates and we’d like to know one way or another so we can think of another plan.”
Cardiff Airport said: “We have been informed that the tour operator and airline are working hard to arrange alternative arrangements for anticipated fans and Cardiff Airport is in constant dialogue with all parties.”
