Cancelled flights cause Gather Round chaos for Port Lincoln footy fans

Footy fans have been left disappointed after missing out on Gather Round due to last minute flight cancellations.

Footy fans travelling from Port Lincoln to Adelaide for Gather Round have been hit with last minute flight cancellations.

Three out of six flights to Adelaide from the seafood capital were cancelled on Friday, two of which were with Rex Airlines and the other with Qantas.

Tumby Bay couple Paul and Jo Neindorf were making their way to the airport when they found out their 3:35pm Qantas flight had been cancelled.

With no other flights available that day, Mr Neindorf missed out on going to the footy while his wife missed out on seeing Sister Act.

“I gave my wife tickets for Sister Act for Christmas and she gave me a football ticket to go to Gather Round,” Mr Neindorf, 65, said.

“So she missed out there and I missed out going to the football last night with my son.

“We also missed out on going to tea and meeting up with friends we haven’t seen for ages.”

With little communication from the airline, the couple, who run a small business together, were left feeling disappointed.

“We don’t get away a lot so we were looking forward to it,” Mr Neindorf said.

“You plan well in advance to make these weekends happen (...) you get staff to cover you for the weekend so it’s costing you extra money there.

“So for a weekend that was well planned and going to be an enjoyable one, it’s turned pretty sour.”

It wasn’t until Saturday morning that they finally landed in Adelaide with the Neindorfs making it in time for the North Melbourne and Gold Coast Suns clash at Lyndoch.

A Qantas spokesperson said that the flight was cancelled due to last minute crew unavailability.

“All passengers were re-accommodated on other flights early Saturday morning and have now reached their final destinations,” they said.

“We sincerely apologise to customers for the disruption.”

Rex Airlines have been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Cancelled flights cause Gather Round chaos for Port Lincoln footy fans