"Welcome aboard. Now please get off."

Budget airline EasyJet says it's looking into the reasons for a major fiasco that left a whole Airbus full of passengers angry.

Flight EZY1496 from Birmingham to Geneva had sat on the runway for nearly half an hour when the captain said he had some "bad news". The ground crew had put 10 tonnes too much fuel into the plane, which wouldn't be able to handle the extra weight, he said. Before the plane could take off, 37 passengers would have to debark.

Each passenger thus bumped would be given £100 and overnight accommodation, he added. But when only seven passengers accepted the offer, the 30 who had checked in last were ordered off the plane.

The passengers who did get to fly did not have a much better time. The flight landed four hours late and without their luggage. Their bags had been removed from the plane back in Birmingham. Jane Webb, 65, and her family were on their way to a skiing holiday in France. "We had to buy all the essentials ... including thermal underwear and snow boots," she told The Telegraph. Their luggage arrived after five days — on the day before they were to fly home to Britain.

The airline has apologized to the customers who were affected.