Virgin Australia let children sleep in Melbourne airport meeting room

Virgin Australia has launched an investigation into why staff let three children sleep at Melbourne airport after their flight was diverted.

9-year-old Jake and two other minors were left to sleep in a Melbourne airport lounge storeroom. Picture: screenshot from Sunrise Twitter

An internal investigation of Virgin Australia has been launched after airline staff left three children to sleep overnight in a meeting room at Melbourne airport.

The three boys who were travelling unaccompanied were left in the care of Virgin staff after their 6.30pm flight from Brisbane to Sydney last Thursday was diverted to Melbourne due to bad weather.

The airline claimed accommodation in Melbourne was booked out due to the Grand Prix event, despite the boys’ parents being told their children would stay at a hotel.

Instead the boys were given blankets and pillows and were left to sleep on the floor at the Melbourne airport lounge where they were housed among towering storage boxes, under the supervision of airline staff

Katie Meredith, mother of nine-year-old John, said she was “furious” she was not told where her son was staying after the flight was diverted.

Virgin Australia has since mounted an internal investigation into its failure to inform the 9-year-old’s parents he would spend the night in Melbourne Airport.

“The scariest thing for me is not how my child was treated, it was ‘where is my child?’”, she said on Channel 7’s Sunrise today.

Katie Meredith and her son John. Photo: AAP.

Ms Meredith said she contacted Virgin head office and received a voicemail the morning after the flight that said an internal investigation had been launched.

“Not normal process by all means, so sorry about that,” the Virgin staff member who left the voicemail message said.

John had been travelling to Sydney to visit his grandmother who was left waiting at the Sydney airport terminal. She received a call from Virgin after the flight had landed in Melbourne.

A Virgin Australia plane takes off at Sydney Airport. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

Ms Meredith’s mother was not told where her grandson would be staying.

“Regrettably, a text message from the child’s nominated guardian during the evening was not responded to,” Virgin Australia said in a statement.

“We take the utmost care when transporting unaccompanied minors and aim to ensure their nominated guardians are aware of any developments as they arise.”

“We apologise for any breakdown in communication between our team and the child’s guardian during the course of the evening.”