Noora Mykkanen
Published December 4, 2025 7:22pm
Updated December 4, 2025 7:22pm
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The newlyweds’ honeymoon flight was suddenly cancelled just 20 minutes before boarding, meaning they will miss a chunk of their hotel booking, a restaurant and massages (Picture: Kaya Cheshire)
A flight cancellation has left a couple £1,350 out of pocket and their honeymoon in tatters after the newlyweds were ‘stranded’ at Heathrow Airport.
Kaya Cheshire and Mike Ross’ long-awaited honeymoon to Thailand has had a bumpy start after the couple were forced to spend a night near Heathrow when their Thai Airways flight was suddenly cancelled yesterday.
The couple, from east London, and more than 100 other passengers were due to travel with Thai Airways to Bangkok on flight TG917 from Heathrow at 9.35pm yesterday.
But 20 minutes before boarding, they received a text message saying the flight had been axed.
Kaya and her husband Mike have lost more than two days out of their long-awaited honeymoon to Thailand because of the sudden flight cancellation (Picture: Kaya Cheshire)
The delay has now cost Kaya, 33, and Mike, 35, who got married in Tuscany in October, over £1,350. They have missed more than two days out of their two-week holiday, including part of their stay at the Banyan Tree Bangkok hotel, massages and a Michelin-starred meal, all of which they had saved for years in the lead-up to the wedding.
Kaya told Metro while they waited at Heathrow that she felt overwhelmingly emotional after the ‘shocking’ start to the trip and the 24-hour delay.
‘We have been planning this for two years and planning for the wedding, and then for the honeymoon,’ she said.
The couple saved for years to have their dream wedding in Italy followed by their honeymoon (Picture: Kaya Cheshire)
‘It’s the first time we’ve been to Thailand and it is our first big trip, and we don’t do big trips. Lots of savings have been poured into it and the wedding. Having the first two days of plans completely turned upside down is chaos.
‘The worst thing is how silent the airline has been. Usually, there would be some form of communication, but absolute radio silence like it didn’t happen.’
Kaya, who works for Eurostar’s PR team, claimed she reached out to the airline via email and X several times, and tried to ring the customer helpline 11 times without a response other than an automated message.
Kaya and her civil servant husband Mike tried to kill time in a cafe after mistakenly being told to arrive to the airport again before 6am (Picture: Kaya Cheshire)
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The passengers were eventually bundled up in a coach and taken to a nearby airport hotel, where some travellers were forced to wait to be taken elsewhere as the hotel was out of rooms. Mike and Kaya paid £150 for the hotel, which they hope to get back from the airline.
In the evening, the couple received an email saying they had been booked on an alternative flight to Bangkok via Singapore. But after arriving at Heathrow again in time for the 6am flight, they were told it was an error and to wait for further instructions for another flight.
The couple were handed a £15 voucher each to cover their food, which barely covered two sandwiches.
The £15 Thai Airways meal voucher barely covered a sandwich at the airport (Picture: Kaya Cheshire)
‘These situations do crop up, and it can be very common, but the fact that there has been complete radio silence is ridiculous,’ Kaya said.
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To make matters worse for the tired holidaymakers, some families were allegedly split up on different flights today, including a woman and her parents.
She said they have been running on fumes as they ‘did not sleep well’ while waiting for the new departure, which was eventually confirmed to be at 9.30pm.
‘It is tough when you have been planning for something for a long time. Because it is a honeymoon, we are not doing it cheaply. We are staying in a really nice hotel we have scrimped and saved for. It is just really stressful.
Metro has contacted Thai Airways for a comment.
What are your rights if your flight is cancelled in the UK?
Flight delay
You might be entitled to compensation if your delayed flight was leaving from the UK, regardless of which airline it was.
If the delay is long enough, the airline has to provide you with food and drink, access to phone calls and emails (like mobile minutes) and accommodation if the delay lasts overnight.
For long-haul flights of more than 3,500km, the delay has to be four hours.
If the flight is delayed for more than five hours, you don’t have to take it and you are usually entitled to a full refund for the flight.
Flight cancellation
If the flight is cancelled, you have a legal right to either a full refund for the flight and other flights, or a replacement flight to get to your destination.
You also have a legal right to help with costs if the cancellation delays you for over two hours, and compensation.
The amount of compensation depends when the flight was cancelled, the distance of the flight and the departure and arrival times of the replacement flight.
If you have to claim compensation or costs from the airline, keep hold of all receipts and contact the airline.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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