Devon mum steps in to help control crowds at Corfu Airport

A mother who stepped in to help organise thousands of passengers at a crowded Greek airport said it was “one of the most random days” of her life.

Faye Williams said she and her family, from Devon, were travelling home from Corfu International Airport on 24 October when several flights were called to the same departure gate at the same time, leaving people unable to get through the crowds.

She offered to help the single employee trying to assist people and was given access to the tannoy. A video taken by her daughter of her reading out flight numbers has reached a million views on social media.

A spokesperson for Corfu Airport thanked Mrs Williams for helping fellow travellers.

Mrs Williams, an events company boss from Exeter, said the 14 departure gates were “extremely crowded” with about 2,000 people waiting for different flights.

“The crowd started to get really tight to the point everything had ground to a halt,” she said.

She said when she got to the member of staff, they looked like they were on the “verge of tears” and, after explaining her plan to control the crowd, she was given a tannoy on the departure desk.

Due to her job, she said she was used to dealing with large numbers of people and was glad she was able to use her skills to help.

“I got the crowd’s attention, which was no mean feat, because there were a lot of people in the airport, and I said to everyone, ‘unless we work as a team, no one is getting their flights’,” she said.

“The woman who worked there gave me the flights one by one, and only with the crowd’s co-operation, making sure they weren’t surging again, I carried on.

“I created a channel through the middle of the crowd and made sure they kept that open.

“I was dangling their flights in front of them as a way of getting them to calm down, not panic and move back and let everybody through.”

She said it became like “flight bingo” because when she read out a flight, the crowd cheered.

“I think I managed to get eight flights through before I had to get my own flight… I was clapped out of the airport, which was lovely but hideously embarrassing,” she said.

Summing it up, she added: “It was one of the most random afternoons of my life.”

A spokesperson for Corfu Airport said it was a “challenging moment” and they were “truly grateful” Mrs Williams was able to help.

They said the departure area became busy after a “sudden reduction” in staffing levels at passport control, which is operated independently of the airport.

“This was an isolated and exceptional incident that did not impede the proper communication of information to travellers,” they said.

“We deeply appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation while our staff worked to assist all passengers to the best of their ability during an unforeseen situation beyond the airport’s control.”