The Dutch airline KLM blocked passengers from boarding at least 20 flights late on Saturday afternoon and instead flew empty planes back to Amsterdam Schiphol airport after a meltdown caused potentially dangerous overcrowding at its home base and hub airport.
KLM now faces a potential bill of millions of Euros in compensation, hotel costs and other welfare needs after thousands of passengers were left stranded in airports across Europe.
The embattled airline had already been preparing for a chaotically busy weekend as Dutch travellers headed on vacation for the Whit Monday holidays but Saturday proved even more difficult than anyone had planned for.
