Фото: Reform.by
Passengers on the Belavia flight from Minsk to Antalya, which was scheduled to depart today at 8:45 a.m., have been stranded at the airport. The situation was described by Threads user @kachan_marina.
According to the passenger, the Belavia aircraft that was supposed to depart for Antalya at 2:20 a.m. experienced a technical failure. Passengers from the overnight flight were then placed on the aircraft scheduled to leave at 8:45 a.m. Meanwhile, tourists booked on the morning flight were left at the airport waiting for the plane to return. The situation became even more complicated after one passenger aboard the departed aircraft allegedly smoked inside the cabin. Turkish police dealt with the incident after landing, delaying the aircraft’s return.
“Our group (around 200 people — children, elderly people, adults) has already been waiting for departure for 10 hours. The company provided hot meals, sandwiches, and water. But all this time they’ve been trying to repair the aircraft engine right outside the windows, and they’re promising us departure at 7:00 p.m.,” the passenger wrote.
According to the tourist, Belavia employees promised to accommodate passengers in a hotel if the aircraft could not be repaired in time. At the same time, passengers of the next overnight flight are reportedly expected to depart on schedule.
“So basically, they gave away our plane, couldn’t find a replacement, may not even be able to repair the broken one, and now they just want to skip us in order to restore the flight schedule or wait until they fix the ‘culprit’ behind all this chaos,” the passenger added.