Budget airline Zoom was blasted as "a shambles" by a passenger last night after its New Year's Day flight to London was delayed by more than 12 hours — the latest in a string of late-running flights.

And the manager of L. F. Wade International Airport revealed that talks are due to take place later this month with Zoom bosses to discuss passenger concerns.

Travellers who arrived at the airport to check in late yesterday afternoon for the flight were told in person about the severe delay by agents for the low-cost carrier. But those who had checked on the internet before heading out were left bewildered.

The airport's website described the flight status as cancelled while the Zoom website initially gave a take off time of 3 a.m. rather than the scheduled 7 p.m. It was later established that the flight was due to take off at 8 a.m. today.

Law student Sam Stevens said the conflicting online information meant he had no idea whether the flight would take off at all — but he was unable to reach anyone at the airport by telephone to help him.

""I think it's absolutely ridiculous," said the 27-year-old Bermudian, who lives in London and needed to be back in time to hand in an essay.

"They treat us more like numbers than passengers. They have been pretty much a shambles since they started flying here.

"It's nice to have some competition on the route to force BA to drop down their prices but if they are going to produce such shabby service again and again they might as well not bother."

Yesterday's delay, caused by a mechanical problem, came a day after Zoom's 11 a.m. service from London Gatwick to Bermuda on New Year's Eve was put back by more than six hours.

That flight eventually landed here eight hours behind schedule just after 10 p.m. Travellers rushing to reach New Year's Eve parties before midnight were greeted with a shortage of taxis outside the airport. One disgruntled passenger, who asked not to be named, said: "It's really annoying that Zoom don't get in touch to tell you about these huge delays so you have to spend hours and hours stuck in an airport."

The 33-year-old woman added: "Once on board, apart from a brief apology, they made no attempt to make amends. Not even a free glass of wine on New Year's Eve, though they did give refreshments vouchers at Gatwick worth about $20."

Zoom could not be contacted for comment last night. But airport manager Aaron Adderley confirmed that travellers have complained directly to the airport about Zoom's recent "challenges", including delayed flights.

He said: "We are hoping to meet with Zoom officials here in Bermuda early this month to discuss some of these concerns. Obviously we are concerned with regard to some of the challenges they have been having of late.

"Hopefully when we get together to meet with them we can discuss with them how to overcome those challenges."

Mr. Adderley said he would look into the lack of information on the airport website; it was amended later in the day to give the correct departure time.

• The Zoom flight was not the only one subject to lengthy delay yesterday, with the JetBlue flight from New York also landing three hours late.

A 58-year-old Bermudian who was travelling back from the US with his wife said the pilot told passengers that overweight bags meant it was unsafe to fly. He said the plane sat on the runway for several hours while eight volunteers were found to get off the flight along with their baggage.

• Passengers needing to confirm flight times should call the airport on 293-1313.