(WBRE/WYOU) — On Sunday, a dozen tourists from northeastern Pennsylvania made it to their final destination overseas nearly two days later than they were supposed to.
The problems started early Friday morning in London. An electrical substation fire knocked out power to the airport and impacted hundreds of thousands of air passengers.
Among them was a Honesdale woman and her group. Their 10-hour trip to Finland took nearly 48 hours instead. It cost them plenty of flight time and thousands of dollars.
Kim Erickson of Honesdale is cozy in her cabin in the Arctic Circle. It's located in Finland which is known as the happiest country in the world.
"Would you say that you are pretty happy right now Kim?" 28/22 News Reporter Gianna Galli asked.
"We are pretty happy and I don't even drink," Erickson replied.
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Erickson, her mom, and 10 close friends planned this trip months ago. They flew out of Newark Airport on Thursday afternoon and boarded what was supposed to be a seven-hour flight to Heathrow London.
Mid-air and 45 minutes before their scheduled landing, plans abruptly changed.
"We got woken up mid-flight saying that Heathrow Airport is shut down due to a fire and we would be going to Glasgow," Erickson explained.
The detour to Glasgow Scotland is nearly 9 hours away from Heathrow Airport.
Upon landing, Erickson's group found themselves among hundreds of thousands of people mixed up in one of Europe's largest airport shutdowns in recent history.
"There was a ground crew guy there named Lee. He took us to our bags and said I have no idea what's going to happen to ya but let's just have fun," Erickson continued.
What wasn't fun at all: Trying to buy 12 plane tickets but having their credit cards decline the purchase. Their train ride took them to the tribe hotel in Manchester.
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"So we called ourselves 'The Lost Tribe,'" Erickson added.
Now that Erickson and her group are finally in Finland, they've been able to view the northern lights, do some sledding, and walk the Wishing Bridge.
"We made it in time for all the important stuff to us," said Erickson.
Erickson says they faced more than $4,000 in unplanned travel expenses, but having some new sites to see, and and share the experience with loved ones made it priceless.
"I couldn't have done it by myself. I would travel anywhere. I just want to go anywhere I haven't," Erickson added.
Erickson says British Airways is reimbursing her group's trip through their traveler's insurance.
The group's return flight is on Thursday and includes a layover in London.
This time they just hope things go as planned.
