SINGAPORE: Passengers on a Jetstar flight from Bangkok to Singapore were stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport for nearly 24 hours from Wednesday (Nov 29) after their departure was delayed twice.
Flight 3K1514 was originally scheduled to depart Bangkok at 9.20pm local time on Wednesday, but was postponed to 2.45pm local time on Thursday.
Passengers said they were provided with overnight accommodation at an inn.
On Thursday, however, the passengers said their flight was delayed again, without notice.
When they arrived at the designated gate at G1A for departure, the display board was flashing information for a Hong Kong Airlines flight to Hong Kong instead.
When passengers arrived at the designated gate at the airport on Thursday (Nov 30), the display indicated a flight to Hong Kong instead of Singapore. (Photo: Oh Hui Min)
Video footage taken at the departure gate showed passengers displaying frustration over the delays, with one man complaining that the meal vouchers they were given to purchase food at the airport were insufficient.
The passengers said they were each given 250 baht (S$10) to purchase food at the airport.
“One bowl of mee how much? 360 baht. How to pay?,” a male passenger was heard shouting at an airport staff.
All their luggage were also checked in and they had no to access their personal belongings, the passengers said.
“Just give us our luggage so that we can book other flights,” one person said.
At about 4pm local time, passengers received an email from Jetstar, informing them that the flight had been moved to 8pm.
The display board at the departure gate G1A was updated at nearly 6pm with the correct flight information to Singapore, the passengers said.
In its flight update email to passengers, Jetstar said that both flights were delayed “due to engineering requirements”.
“We apologise for the unexpected change to your travel plans,” the email said, adding that passengers can check for available alternate flights.
In response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, Jetstar said that delay was due to a “series of technical issues with the aircraft”.
“We apologise to all affected passengers who had been inconvenienced by the delay of 3K1514 from Bangkok to Singapore,” it said.
It also confirmed that the flight was rescheduled to depart at 8pm local time and would arrive in Singapore at 11.30pm on Thursday.
“Our engineers on ground worked hard to conduct tests on the aircraft but it has taken longer than expected. To ensure the well-being of our customers, passengers were provided hotel accommodation and meal vouchers including refreshments at the airport,” Jetstar said.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. Once again, we apologise to all customers and thank them for their patience,” it added.
