Hundreds of Philippines-bound passengers travelling from the Gulf on Thursday were left stranded after a technical glitch resulted in a 17 to 18-hour flight delay.
Cebu Pacific, the largest Filipino carrier that operates flights between the Philippines and the Middle East, said one of its flights had to be delayed due to a problem with the aircraft.
Flight 5J 741 was supposed to depart for Manila from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at 12:45 am on Thursday, June 22, 2017 (1:45am in Dubai).
The airline first announced that the departure time for the aircraft was postponed to 6.30pm on Thursday (7.30pm Dubai), but later said the new departure was moved earlier to 5pm — and scheduled to arrive in Manila at 7am on Friday.
“We regret any inconvenience this incident may have caused. The safety of our passengers will always remain our top priority,” the airline said.
The delay has affected 432 passengers, including three infants. In a statement sent to Gulf News, the airline said that travellers with a visa enabling them to exit the Saudi airport were either transported to an accommodation provided by Cebu Pacific or their residences.
"Those who were unable to leave the airport due to [Saudi Arabia] visa restrictions were provided food and drinks by Cebu Pacific onsite representatives after a special permission was obtained from local authorities due to the observance of the holy month of Ramadan," the airline said.
As of 1.30pm, the aircraft was on ground at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The airline did not disclose what the technical glitch is, but assured passengers that it will “provide updates as soon as further information becomes available.”
Only last week, a local flight operated by the airline encountered some delays, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck inside the plane for more than an hour without proper air conditioning.
Flight 5J 575, which was bound for Cebu on June 16, was unable to take off on time due to some tarmac delays. But while waiting inside the plane for take-off, passengers said the AC was not working properly.
“Babies are crying, old people are complaining and there’s a woman [who] got suffocated and now she has oxygen on because she can’t breathe. We’ve been here for more than an hour inside the plane,” one passenger posted on Facebook.
Passengers asked to deplane
It was only when one passenger fainted when the airline staff asked everyone to leave the aircraft.
“If no one had passed out, they would not have paid attention to us. So frustrating and disappointing. We didn’t even get free water,” said another passenger, Christalyn Tagsa.
The country’s Department of Transportation said it would look into the incident. “Should [it be found] that Cebu Pacific 5J 575 went beyond the prescribed 2-hour period to deplane its passengers due to long tarmac delays, Cebu Pacific shall be held liable for the penalty prescribed under the regulation,” the transportation office said.
