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Ninety-six pupils and 11 staff returning from an Easter trip to the US have been left stranded at Los Angeles Airport after British Airways cancelled their flight home.

The St Martin’s School geography trip left Heathrow on March 30 for California, where pupils and teachers visited San Francisco and Alcatraz, as well as travelling to Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.

Their BA268 flight, which was due to land at Heathrow at 3.25pm today (April 7), was cancelled without explanation.

An expected transfer to an earlier American Airlines flight failed to materialise, meaning the group had to spend the night in a nearby hotel organised by tour operator Travelbound.

Originally, 97 pupils aged between 12 and 16, and 12 staff travelled on the trip. One pupil was able to board the earlier flight, accompanied by a teacher, after it was explained they needed to return home for an urgent medical appointment.

The Caerphilly school’s head of humanities, Jeremy Jowett, is leading the trip and told Caerphilly Observer that while pupils were anxious, they were in good spirits and safe. Parents are being kept up to date about the situation.

Speaking from the hotel near Los Angeles Airport – eight hours behind the UK – Mr Jowett said: “We’re not 100% sure why our return flight with BA was cancelled. We haven’t been given a reason for it.

“They transferred our flights to American Airlines, which was due to depart about 30 minutes earlier. When we got to the check-in it turned out the transfer hadn’t been created and our seats hadn’t been reserved.”

Referring to the pupil who did manage to reach Heathrow today, Mr Jowett said American Airlines had been “very good” in helping get him home.

A spokesperson for BA, when contacted by Caerphilly Observer, said the aircraft the group had been due to fly on was damaged by ground crew and was not safe to operate.

They added: “The group have been booked onto flights that are due to depart Los Angeles on Wednesday, which was the earliest available option. Whilst this situation was outside of our control, we’re very sorry for the disruption our customers have experienced.”

Travelbound, which organised the Easter trip, is liaising with British Airways and the school.

It is the third such trip the school has made to the US, following previous visits in 2018 and 2023.