More Jetstar passengers have been left stranded after a technical problem with one of the budget airline’s Dreamliners.
Passengers on flight JQ64 from Ho Chi Minh city to Melbourne were left in limbo for hours early on Tuesday after a problem with one of the doors on their plane meant it could not take off.
Their flight had been due to leave Vietnam at 10.30pm on Monday, and arrive in Melbourne early on Tuesday.
But they reportedly boarded the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, only to be told to disembark. Passengers were then boarded again, before being told the plane would not leave as planned.
“We’re literally just sitting on the floor here on the tiles, not sure what was going on,” Dean Debattista Melbourne’s 3AW radio from Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
“It’s 4am now here, we’re just stranded.
“It’s pretty crap that we weren’t in the loop, really.”
Another passenger told the Seven network they had already spent more than four hours waiting to depart.
“We are all stranded in Ho Chi Minh City, trying to get home since 10.30pm,” they said.
“We have boarded the plane twice and disembarked twice without any reason. It is now 2.45am and we’re all still waiting.
“This is so unreasonable.”
Jetstar said the replacement part might need to be flown in from Singapore.
“We never want to delay a flight but safety is always our No.1 priority and we apologise for the inconvenience,” an airline spokesperson said.
The flight is now expected to depart on Tuesday night. Jetstar said customers were being provided with hotel accommodation and other reasonable expenses.
Tuesday’s technical issues came after hundreds of Jetstar passengers on a flight to Melbourne from Bangkok spent about 11 hours on the tarmac at Alice Springs airport after their flight was delayed by twin emergencies.
Their flight was initially diverted after a medical emergency on board, and then grounded for longer after an electrical fault was discovered on another of Jetstar’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.
Passengers said they had only limited food and no-inflight entertainment, and were not allowed to disembark for fresh air.
Alice Springs is a domestic airport and has no customs processing facilities.
Jetstar said the airline worked with border agencies, the NT Police and the airport authority to allow passengers to disembark into a special partitioned section of the airport.
Passengers eventually landed in Melbourne on Monday morning – but without their checked luggage. It could not be transferred to the replacement plane, and eventually arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday morning.
