SCHOOL children who were looking forward to the trip of a lifetime nearly had their plans scuppered by the snow.

Forty-five year six pupils and seven members of staff from Knavesmire Primary School were due to fly to Barcelona at 9am yesterday morning on a trip which took more than six months to plan.

But, after setting off from the South Bank school at 6am, the coach became stuck on snowy roads on the way to Leeds Bradford Airport. Their flight had also been delayed but when the group finally arrived at the airport five hours later, they had just missed check-in, which Jet 2 said closed at 11am. The flight finally took off at about 12.55pm.

The pupils were forced to make the journey back to school, devastated to no longer be going on their long-awaited trip. But Jet 2 have now organised for the group to fly today by organising a larger plane.

Head teacher Adam Cooper said: “We booked the flights in September and parents contributed quite significantly to the cost. We will have a day less but this was the best outcome we could get. Jet 2 has come through for us. The kids were great, they are very resilient. They were upset at first but they kept it in perspective and were singing on the bus back. The parents have been great.”

Parent Richard Nihill, whose son was on the trip, praised staff for the way they handled the setback.

He said: “I am hugely impressed by the determination and hard work of Adam Cooper and his staff who have managed to ensure that the trip to Barcelona goes ahead.

“However I am very disappointed that the pupils have been denied the full delights of their planned visit due to the intransigent attitude of Jet 2 not allowing them to board the plane, even though they were in the airport almost two hours before the flight actually departed.”

And parent Elisa Zen said: “The children have been looking forward to it for ages; they have known about the trip since the beginning of the year. You really feel for the children; you could see how excited they were.”

A spokesman for Jet 2 said: “In light of the adverse weather conditions earlier today, we advised all customers on this morning’s flight to Barcelona to arrive in plenty of time for check-in.

“We did extend the check-in time by two hours and 40 minutes, however the group still arrived after check-in had closed, and so were unfortunately unable to board the flight.

“We understand the disappointment and upset that this has caused, and after discussions with the school we arranged for the group to fly to Barcelona with us on Friday morning.”