Dozens stranded on Greek isle after ‘turtle curfew’

British holidaymakers have finally returned home this week after being stranded on the Greek island of Zante for up to three days because of concerns over endangered turtles.

Dozens of people due to fly home by EasyJet on Sunday found themselves stranded on Zante due to the unusual combination of a technical fault followed by a 'turtle curfew'.

The airline initially cancelled the flight blaming a technical fault. However, when engineers were unable to fix the problem the following day, the airline said that the plane night curfew rule - put in place to protect the area's endangered turtles - meant that no replacement flight could be sent that night.

The airline tried to rescue those who had been stranded in "total chaos", but while around a quarter of passengers were able to hitch a lift on alternative flights the following day, according to the airline, about 135 people were left stranded in the capital Zakynthos until Tuesday.

EasyJet apologised for the delay, saying, "Unfortunately, due to the night curfew rule at the airport, we were unable to get the replacement aircraft into the airport."

A number of passengers affected by the disruption voiced their irritation on Twitter, saying that EasyJet staff and information about the delay were both hard to come by while they were stuck on the island.

The curfew rules, to safeguard the island's Loggerhead turtles from light and noise, reflect the importance of the endangered species to the island's tourist industry. The island's Bay of Laganas is one of the most important breeding grounds for the turtles, which like to dig their nests in the shallow dunes.

Zakynthos airport, the only one on the Ionian island, is situated close to beaches where the turtles lay their eggs at night, prompting the authorities to ban aircraft when it is dark.

Greece has faced criticism in the past, with the European Court of Justice ruling that it was not doing enough to protect its endangered turtle population in 2002.

EasyJet has confirmed that passengers affected by the delays will be entitled to compensation.

It follows allegations that a British EasyJet passenger reportedly being punched by an airport worker in Nice, in the South of France, on Saturday, as a 14-hour delay with a flight to Luton left furious passengers without food, water and baby supplies.