Jersey MP Steve Pallet goes to BUDAPEST instead of Bucharest after booking error

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Steve Pallet only realised he was in the wrong country just before landing
The Jersey politician apologised for wasting £1,000 of taxpayers' money
Missed the Dance World Cup handover as he was in the wrong city

Published: 10:54 EST, 8 July 2015 | Updated: 12:15 EST, 8 July 2015

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Everyone makes mistakes but getting on the wrong flight and ending up in a totally different country to where you had orginally planned is the stuff of nightmares - particularly when it means missing an important event.

A Jersey politician missed the handover of the Dance World Cup to the island when he flew to Budapest in Hungary, instead of Bucharest in Romania.

Jersey is hosting the 2016 competition and Constable Steve Pallett was due to receive a flag from his Romanian hosts at the event.

Constable Steve Pallett found himself in Budapest, Hungary (above) instead of in Bucharest, Romania

Mr Pallett apologised to event organisers and said he was sorry for wasting some £1,000 of taxpayers' money, reported The Telegraph.

He revealed he did not realise he was about 500 miles (804km) short of his destination until 'just before landing'.

The booking had been made by someone within the Education, Sport and Culture department, a spokesman said, adding it was 'human error'.

Mr Pallett, assistant minister of both the Economic Development and Planning and Environment departments, said the department should have been more careful when the flight was booked.

Pallet was due to receive a flag from the Romanian hosts of the Dance World Cup event in Bucharest (above)

'It is really disappointing, I have to apologise for wasting taxpayers' money and for letting down the Dance World Cup,' he said.

'I don't know the exact cost as I've still got some figures to come back, but it won't be less than £1,000. All I can do is apologise for what is a schoolboy error, the last thing I needed was a day trip to Budapest after a long week supporting the Island Games.'

He was supposed to make a speech and accept the flag on behalf of nearly 3,000 competitors from 32 countries, including England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

He had been heavily involved in the Island Games, a multi-sport competition similar to the Olympics, that was being held in Jersey the week before.

The Dance World Cup will be held in Jersey in 2016 but Mr Pallett missed the flag handover

It's not the first time a geographical mix up has caused embarrassment.

Earlier this year a medical student attempted to fly to Guyana to begin his scholarship but ended up nearly 2,000 miles away in the Brazilian city of Goiania.

In 2013 Lamenda Kingdon, a British woman, had planned a visit to the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. Instead she mistakenly caught a flight across the Atlantic to the tropical Caribbean island of Grenada.

Also in 2013 Sandy Valdiviseo and her husband Triet Vo were intending to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar in Senegal with Turkish Airlines. However, instead they ended up almost 7,000 miles away – on an entirely different continent – in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, after the airport codes were mixed up.

The stories were widely reported across all media, leaving both travellers and booking companies more than a little red-faced.