DMU students offered alternative trip to New York after weather cancels flights


Students left unable to travel to New York for De Montfort University’s huge international trip to the US have been given the option of taking a rearranged journey to New York later in the year at no additional cost.

Alternatively those students affected can have their £299 refunded.

There will be opportunities to apply for and participate in different #DMUglobal trips throughout the year.

Travel chaos caused by a winter storm affecting the East Coast of the USA forced airlines to delay or cancel hundreds of flights into and out of the USA.

NY cancels 3

The cyclone closed New York airports for considerable periods of time on Friday, causing a backlog of delays with knock-on effects on flights scheduled throughout the day.

Despite this, many hundreds of students were able to arrive safely in the US and begin their #DMUglobal experience in New York.

But unfortunately, notwithstanding the best efforts of DMU staff, working closely with senior airline staff, several flights were unable to be rescheduled, leaving those students affected unable to travel to New York.

NY cancels 2

A statement from DMU said: “To compensate in some small way, we are offering affected students places, at no additional cost to the £299 they have already paid, on a rearranged trip to New York at a date to be confirmed. Alternatively, students could choose to undertake another #DMUglobal trip from the range of available trips or, if they would prefer to have a refund for the £299 spent on this trip to New York, we would be very happy to offer this option.”

Professor Dominic Shellard, Vice-Chancellor of DMU, said he was “extremely sorry” for the disappointment students would be feeling but offered to fly those affected back out to the US city in the summer at no additional cost.

He said: “In spite of our very best efforts, our travel provider has been unable to secure rescheduled flights for some students.

“I know that this is deeply disappointing news for those who can’t travel, so to compensate in some small way we’re offering places on a rescheduled trip to New York before August at no additional cost.”

NY cancels 1

Despite the obvious disappointment, students were understanding that the circumstances were beyond DMU’s control and acknowledged the efforts the university made to reschedule their flights.

Ahtesham Mahmood, President of De Montfort Students’ Union was one of those affected.

He wrote on Twitter: “A huge thank you to the Vice-Chancellor and all DMU staff for their continued efforts to ensure every possibility was explored in response to the horrendous disruption caused by Mother Nature.”

By late evening on Friday, all students able to travel to New York had either arrived or were safely en route to the city.

The #DMUglobal trip will see hundreds of students taking part in a huge programme of visits to businesses, sights and organisations across the Big Apple.

Each course has a tailored itinerary and on the final day, DMU will hold a summit at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday 9 January to launch DMU’s involvement in the UN’s Together campaign, which aims to offer worldwide support to refugees.

Posted on Saturday 6 January 2018

  Search news archive