Penicuik family left stranded in Egypt

Emma Millington (29) flew out with her boyfriend and two children, Ethan and Skylar, for a two-week holiday in Hurghada on March 16 – just one day before the Foreign Office advised against all non-essential overseas travel due to Covid-19.

Emma said the four have experienced “hellish” living conditions while trying to find somewhere to stay until they can get a flight home.

“We are just so desperate to get back to the UK,” she said.

“Ethan is only seven and he’s covered in cockroach bites. He has autism and isn’t dealing with the situation well at all.

“We flew out here for Skylar’s 10th birthday and she’s just miserable, I can see the bones poking through her arms she’s lost so much weight since being out here.”

Emma is out of work and her boyfriend, Darren McDougall, a scaffolder, has been furloughed.

The family are relying on Emma’s sister Ashley Millington, who is an NHS nurse in the Lothians, to wire them money.

“We don’t have much money and have been having to loan from my sister who has been just amazing helping us through this, despite working so hard on the frontline back home,” Emma said.

“We are having to ration food. It’s not pleasant going to the shops because locals surround me and Skylar and touch us and there is coronavirus here so it’s worrying.”

After the family’s package holiday deal ran out on March 29, they were asked to leave the Titanic Royal hotel where they were staying.

Emma, who has been struggling with her mental health since running out of her anti-depressants, said the four were then offered three days accommodation by Loveholidays, who they booked the trip with.

But the exhausted mum declined, instead choosing to find something more permanent during their wait for a flight home.

After posting a plea on Facebook, a local man contacted Emma to offer a villa to stay in for free.

Emma and her family have attempted to book commercial flights back to the UK but they keep getting cancelled.

The distressed mother said she was advised by Loveholidays to book onto a rescue flight from Cairo to London on April 12, but she couldn’t afford the cost.

“Loveholidays offered to pay for transfer costs to Cairo, but there’s no financial support for the actual flight out and I really don’t want to be stranded with the children in Cairo, it’s a hot-spot for the virus and there was a shooting there just a few weeks ago.”

The family’s car is still at Manchester airport, where they flew from, and Emma’s two dogs are currently at a dog sitter.

Emma said: “I know it’s a global pandemic, but for weeks I didn’t feel very supported by Loveholidays.

“They still have the money we paid for this trip so I hoped for a bit more from them.

“I sent the company messages in mid-March and it was so bad at getting back to me.

“It’s been hell just getting to this resort we are now in.

“We had to look for it which wasn’t easy and the travel company just said it would cover costs.”

Loveholidays claim the first contact they had from the family is March 31, but in messages it’s clear Emma had been in touch asking for help since March 19.

The family were recently booked onto a flight with the original airline that flew them out to Egypt – Turkish Airlines – for May 20, but it has been cancelled.

Emma said since contacting the media, Loveholidays has been more responsive in helping her and she is now in touch with the UK embassy about applying for a loan to cover the rescue flight scheduled for this month.

A Loveholidays spokeswoman said: “We first heard from her on March 31 and our advice, consistent with all customers, was to register with the embassy in Egypt and await updates on rescue flights.

“The customer declined help from Loveholidays for alternative accommodation initially and insisted that alternative flights should be booked for her return which she was advised we were unable to do.

“In an event like this we are reliant on the government working with airlines to organise repatriation flights as commercial flights are being consistently cancelled.”

She said a short-term accommodation option was flagged to the family and the company suggested Emma book the four of them on the UK rescue flight scheduled for April 12.

Loveholidays would then cover transfer costs to Cairo and provide accommodation leading up to that flight.

She added:”We contacted Emma again on April 13 to ensure she had arrived home and were informed that they did not take the rescue flight.

“We again explained that we cannot arrange a rescue flight and that they needed to organise this with the embassy directly.

“The customer has attempted to book commercial flights via easyJet to get home but the first flight she booked for May 7 was cancelled.

“We had managed to alter her original flight home with Turkish airlines to the 20th May as a fallback, but that has also been cancelled, so we are in contact with the embassy in Egypt regarding any other options.

“The accommodation that Ms Russell is currently staying in is being paid for by Loveholidays and we will continue to offer support to the customer until she is able to return home.

“A refund for the return flights with Turkish Airlines has been requested and this will be passed on to Ms Russell once received.”

Loveholidays stressed help was offered to the Midlothian family and it “did offer to cover accommodation costs and transfer costs to assist the family as there were no direct flights”.

A spokeswoman for the travel company added: “In these unprecedented times, we are looking to help our customers as best we can and need to be consistent relying on the processes and procedures the government has put in place to repatriate British nationals home from abroad.”