At least 35 Malayalis stranded at Qatar airport for 30-plus hours without clarity on flights

Kottayam-based Arun (name changed on request), who works in Doha, reached Qatar Airport at 4.30 pm on June 23 to catch his flight to Kochi. It was to be the start of his much-awaited vacation. His Qatar Airways flight was supposed to take off at 7.45 pm from Doha and reach Kochi on June 24, early morning. However, the youngster, along with more than 30 Malayalis, are still stuck at the Qatar airport, with a 'consolation update' that he will be probably accommodated on a flight to Trivandrum today evening at 7.30 pm local time! While the reason for the delay quoted initially was the closure of the airspace due to Iran's US military base attack in Qatar on the date, lack of clarity and other reasons started pouring in after that, says Arun. The passengers stranded in the airport also include children below the age of five and those above 60 years of age. 

Interestingly, the same flight was cancelled even on previous days too, before Iran's attack, according to Arun. "There are also many here flying in from London, US, Ireland and the like, and waiting since June 21! While we can understand the delays due to the developing tensions in the region, what troubled us is the lack of explanations from the airline for a long time. We were troubled by the prolonged silence and lack of communication," he says. Apparently, on the morning of June 24, a couple of the passengers were instructed to board a plane to fly to Kochi. "However, we waited for over an hour inside the aircraft, only to get an announcement that the plane wouldn't take off. We were told that the Kochi runway is undergoing maintenance, because of which we should deboard and wait in the terminal. We were also promised that regardless, another flight will be arranged on the same day," he says. However, it did not happen.  

What unfolded after this is what upsets most passengers waiting at the airport. Arun explains, "The Qatar Airways staff had no information on any updates and for a long time, and we were extremely clueless. Until a staff member who took charge in the evening helped us with a few updates, we were in the dark. He told us that the Qatar residents among the passengers had the option to leave the airport, rebook flights and come back. However, this wasn't communicated to us earlier. Even those who arrived at the airport a day or two before me are stuck here primarily due to the lack of communication." Apparently, when the passengers contacted the Cochin airport on updates on the runway maintenance, they were informed that it was over much earlier and they weren't clear what's causing the delay from Qatar. "This is while we were told that the flight isn't taking off due to lack of confirmation from Kochi," says Arun. 

Arun says that more than 90% of the passengers were to reach Kerala due to emergencies. "While we can avail airport food with our boarding pass, many with children faced difficulties due to the unavailability of diapers and baby food. There were around five or six children with the passengers stranded for more than 36 hours. They were on connection flight from the US. They were stranded after travelling for 15 hours or more" he says. The airline reportedly arranged a 1.45 am flight to Kochi this morning for the stranded passengers bound for Kerala. A few, including Arun, chose to give up their seats so that families with children and elderly passengers could board instead. "Quite a few 60-plus people are also here, waiting since June 22. And some of them flew in from the US for a connection flight." Around three or four kids below the age of five are still at the airport, he says. 

Does he believe the promised 7.30 pm flight tonight will depart on time and finally take off? "We have been given the boarding flight and the flight had also operated yesterday. So, we are hoping it will," Arun says, signing off.

Though Onmanorama had emailed Qatar Airways on June 25, requesting an explanation on the developments, we haven't received a response yet. However, on its website, Qatar Airways Group CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said in an open letter to its passengers that the airline faced one of the most severe operational crises in its history after an unexpected closure of its airspace on June 23 due to the attack near Al Udeid Air Base. He said that with over 90 flights and 20,000 passengers impacted globally, the disruption scattered aircraft across multiple countries and halted departures from Doha. He said emergency response plans were activated immediately, restoring operations soon, reuniting all diverted passengers and resuming scheduled flights by June 25.