Mumbai: Passengers travelling from Mumbai to Manchester on a Gulf Air flight have expressed frustration after being stranded at Kuwait airport for over 13 hours. They reported facing huge challenges, including a “lack of help and insufficient food:. Videos are viral on social media and they show a heated exchange between passengers and airport authorities.
Passengers allege mistreatment
According to a tweet, passengers alleged mistreatment, saying that the airline provided accommodation only to travellers from the European Union, the UK and the US, leaving others to fend for themselves. Some passengers said the flight made an unexpected U-turn before landing in Kuwait. They said that the announcement about the diversion came just 20 minutes before landing and even speculated that one of the plane’s engines had caught fire. Gulf Air has not issued a statement on the incident yet.
“Reading WHY BHARAT MATTERS while getting stuck in Kuwait without any help All British Passport holders got their hotels sorted with On-arrival visa while #IndianPassport holders have been left stranded without any info, food, or any kind of help,” the tweet said.
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An another X post said that Indian passengers were harassed, with the airline allegedly offering accommodation only to passengers from the EU, the UK, and the US.
Indian PAX stuck at @KuwaitAirports
since 12 hrs after Manchester bound @GulfAir flight GF005 was diverted. PAX alleged harrasment & also alleged that the airline has provied accomodation to only EU,UK & US citizens. @RamMNK @MoCA_GoI@indembkwt
Video credit: Passenger pic.twitter.com/pBcJDtUMRS— Daanish Anand (@Daanish_Anand) December 1, 2024
Stranded passengers uncertain
Arzoo Singh, one of the stranded passengers, told NDTV that they had requested lounge access to cope with the extended delay. However, she claimed that the airport authorities failed to respond to their request. “It has been more than 13 hours. There are around 60 passengers here. We asked for lounge access, if possible, but they didn’t respond to us. Since morning, they have been telling us every three hours that we would be heading home,” Singh told NDTV, while surrounded by fellow passengers who have been waiting in the terminal for more than half a day.
