MUMBAI: As many as 300 passengers of a VietJet flight to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam were stranded at the city airport for around 10 hours due to a glitch in the aircraft, according to a passenger.
The passenger, on the condition of anonymity, alleged that the airline did not provide hotel accommodation or food for passengers despite the long delay.
Under DGCA rules, passengers are to be provided accommodation as well as food by the airline concerned if a flight is delayed beyond a stipulated time.
"The flight VJ-884 (operating on the Mumbai-Ho Chi Minh City route) was to depart at 11.30 pm on Thursday. We boarded the flight at 11 pm. However, when it did not take off for an hour, we asked for the reason. We were told there is some glitch in the aircraft and it will take some time for departure," said the passenger who was to travel to Bali via Vietnam on the flight.
"Between 11.30 pm and 5 am, till the time they brought us back to the immigration area, no food or water was provided to the stranded passengers," he said, adding that there is still no clarity about an alternative flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
The passengers were deplaned and brought back to the immigration area at around 7 am, he said.
Vietjet, later in a statement said that "on May 26, flight VJ884 from Mumbai (India) to Ho Chi Minh City which was initially planned to depart at 01:00 local time had to reschedule to 20:30 local time due to operational reasons."
This rescheduling has impacted some flights, the airline said, adding that "passengers on affected flights are being supported under the carrier's policy, including hotels, foods, drinks, and other supports subject to individual passenger requests."