Midlands couple who booked ‘bargain’ flight to the Caribbean turned away at airport because their ticket was actually from Birmingham, Alabama


A couple accidentally booked a cheap flight to the Caribbean from the wrong Birmingham Airport – 4,000 miles away.

The tickets were booked by 55-year-old Kevin Jones, left, for himself and his partner Jeanette

Kevin Jones and his partner Jeanette were thrilled when they bagged two return flights to Trinidad for just £800.

But when they arrived at the West Midlands hub, they were told their American Airlines flight was actually taking off from Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport – the biggest in the U.S. state of Alabama.

Mr Jones, 55, from Glenfield, Leicester, told The Sun on Sunday: ‘The girl at the information desk broke the news with a very sympathetic look that our flight was leaving over 2,000 miles away.

‘We had no choice but to get our car out of long stay and drive home.’

The pair are now on a bargain break in the Spanish resort of Benidorm instead, the newspaper reported.

Despite the 4,200-mile distance between them, the two airports have some surprising similarities.


They are a similar size and both went into service around the same time – the UK’s version was commissioned in 1928, while flights began at the U.S. version in the same year.

It is not the first mix-up involving a Caribbean flight.

Just three months ago grandmother Lamenda Kingdon, 62, from Plymouth, fell victim to another namesake – except she ended up in the Caribbean by accident.

As she sipped a gin and tonic at 30,000ft and looked forward to her break in Granada, Spain, a fellow passenger broke it to her that they were actually travelling to the island of Grenada.

And it is not even the first mix-up between the two Birminghams.

In 2008 Birmingham City Council chiefs were left red-faced after they distributed 720,000 leaflets praising Brummies for their recycling – which showed the skyline of Birmingham, Alabama, instead.

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