Grounded in Munich snowstorm: Our rescue mission to save school group

Picture this: you and 40 of your students have just boarded your flight home from a fun-packed trip to Munich, you're on the runway waiting to take off, then you're informed a snowstorm has grounded all flights indefinitely and you need to disembark the plane. Oh, but your luggage is going to have to remain on board... That's exactly what happened to one of our groups from an Essex secondary school on their recent German language trip.

The promise of a rescheduled flight provided our group some solace during restless hours in the airport, but hopes were later dashed when persistent inclement weather meant the flight was cancelled altogether.

With few answers available from the airline and not content with leaving our group out in the cold, Tricia Bryant, Tours Director at Voyager School Travel, took charge to orchestrate a rescue mission that would make any action hero proud!

Stranded at the airport? Snow problem...

As one of the party leaders on the trip later relayed to us:

“We had no luggage nor any idea of how we might retrieve it, let alone details of the next available flight home.” “The airline let us down and we were stranded in Germany with 40 children.”

Collaborating closely with the school group, Tricia navigated the chaos, formulating plans and executing the best course of action.

“Tricia liaised with us in ascertaining the situation on the ground, helped us formulate a number of possible plans and then decide on the best option,” described the school's Assistant Headteacher, “It is at times like this that the assistance of a company such as yours is invaluable.”

Quality customer care during travel chaos

Tricia, a competent German speaker, swiftly organised last-minute accommodation for the weary passengers and covered essential costs for food, clothing and medication. But the real showstopper? A swift call to Pegasus Coaches, our own transport company, to to despatch an emergency coach with 4 drivers on board, which meant the entire return journey to and from Munich could be pulled off safely.

“We could never fully prepare for this kind of situation,” Nigel English, Voyager School Travel CEO, reflects “and it is reassuring to know that with our experience, breadth and capability we were able to deal with this emergency quickly and get the school home.”

Choosing a travel provider with their own coach company may seem arbitrary, but it's in instances like this where it makes the world of difference. With total autonomy over our vehicles and drivers, we can offer you and your students unrivalled emergency support when it matters.

 “It is at times like this that the assistance of a company such as yours is invaluable.” continues the Assistant Head, “your dedication and professionalism throughout the situation gave us the confidence that we were in safe hands.”

A school travel company that goes the extra mile

We take pride in going the extra mile for our groups, and we do that with our multilingual and multinational teams (we speak 11 languages in our UK head office alone), our own European learning centres and our own coaches and drivers to get you there.

Plan your next school trip with us to experience the Voyager difference for yourself.

You may also be interested in

• Why Voyager School Travel is different to other school trip companies
• Teachers share their experience in our school trip case studies
• Our commitment to you - no hidden surprises