Kiwi injured at Sydney Airport after Jetstar cancellation causes overnight stay

A trip to the Gold Coast ended in disaster for a Kiwi in his 70s after his Jetstar flight home to Auckland was cancelled and he ended up on an unscheduled overnight trip to Sydney Airport.

The airport threw Gary Cargill and his daughter Rachel out when it closed at 11.30pm forcing them to wait outside. And then things went from bad to worse - Gary slipped and fell, cutting his face and fracturing his hand.

The Cargills had enjoyed a "beautiful" wedding on the Gold Coast last weekend.

On Monday, they woke up early to get to the airport to catch a direct flight to Auckland.

"We got up at 4.30am and saw the email from Jetstar saying the flight was cancelled," Rachel said.

There was no extra cost, and several options were available, but most included a long stopover in Sydney or Melbourne.

They decided to take a flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney that evening, with a nine-hour stopover before flying back to Auckland the next morning.

Rachel said they declined the airline's offer of hotel compensation, assuming they would be able to stay there before their flight the next day.

"We thought, 'it's Sydney Airport, it's gonna be open'. There will be a seat there, and we will hang around, lie down, sleep, and grab something to eat," Rachel said.

They didn't realise the airport closed at 11.30pm and wouldn't reopen until 2.30am.

"We were booted out of the airport, and they said, 'You have to go and sit outside'."

Rachel said: "We just went and found a seat over in the car park because it was the warmest place."

But it was cold and raining so the Cargills decided to look for somewhere warmer to wait.

As they were walking, Gary slipped and fell.

"I didn't see a step down from a kerb and ended up doing a face plant on the road," he said.

He cut his face and fractured his hand.

Airport security came to assist, administering first aid and offering an ambulance.

"By that stage, we just wanted to get home, and we didn't wanna be waiting around in the hospital, so we did decline that," Rachel said

Despite Gary's condition, he wasn't allowed to wait inside, and the two were made to go back outside into the dark and wait for the airport to open.

"That was it, they went back in and shut the doors again," Gary said.

They eventually made it back to Auckland after a long journey home and went to the hospital to have Gary looked after.

He received stitches, and his hand was put in a cast, which will need to stay on for six weeks.

Both Gary and Rachel believe Jetstar could have done a better job at communicating the situation at Sydney Airport to them.

"We were informed of nothing about that, I mean, I just assumed, being Sydney airport, a big International airport, I really didn't expect them to be closed, and I didn't expect food not to be available," Rachel said.

"As we got off the plane in Auckland, and they said 'thank you for travelling with us', I said, 'thank you for ruining our weekend'."

Gary didn't understand why they couldn't get a direct flight back to Auckland, or why the stopovers were so long.

"Like 24 hours to get home from Australia, you know that's just bloody hideous, isn't it?

"I'll never be flying Jetstar again."

A Jetstar spokesperson said Gary and Rachel's flight had been cancelled due to a crewing issue, and affected passengers were provided with 11 alternative flight options.

“We emailed customers advising we would assist with reasonable overnight accommodation costs and if needed, customers could also speak to an airport team member for help finding accommodation.

“We’re sorry to learn what happened during his time in Sydney. Our customer care team will be in contact with him to discuss his experience.”

A spokesperson for Sydney Airport responded to 1News about the Cargills' ordeal, saying: “We sincerely apologise on behalf of Sydney Airport for the experience of these passengers.

"We recognise how difficult and distressing this situation would have been."

The spokesperson said that while the airport closes due to a flight curfew that runs from 11pm to 6am, "there are processes in place to identify and support vulnerable passengers".

"In this instance, the situation should have been escalated to the on-call Sydney Airport Duty Manager. We will review this process and ensure all our frontline teams are aware of the relevant processes around supporting vulnerable passengers.”