Indian passengers stuck at Turkey airport with no food or toilets for over 30 hours

Passengers are stuck at Diyarbakir Airport, which is a small military airport in south-eastern Turkey with limited facilities.

More than 250 passengers, mostly Indians, are stuck at Diyarbakir Airport, a small military airport in south-eastern Turkey with limited facilities. They have been stuck for more than 30 hours now after a Mumbai-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to make an emergency landing there on Wednesday morning.

Indian passengers stuck for over 30 hours at a Turkish airport.

A Mumbai-bound Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Wednesday morning, in which over250 passengers got stuck. An airline spokesperson said they are exploring several options, including arranging a different flight for the passengers. The flight had left London’s Heathrow Airport for Mumbai and was supposed to land at 1.40 am on Thursday. However, it was forced to land at Turkey’s Diyarbakir Airport after a medical emergency was reported on board. The A350-1000 aircraft couldn’t take off later due to a technical snag, which left the passengers stranded with no end to their ordeal in sight.

Passengers are stuck without food and toilets.

Preeti Sharma Menon, Aam Aadmi Party leader, whose sister and niece are also on the flight, took to X to share that passengers are stuck without food, usable toilets and phone chargers. She wrote on X, “It’s getting grim every moment. The airport toilets are unusable. Food is scarce. Phones are running out of charge as there are no shops where you can buy Turkish adapters. Airport staff doesn’t even speak English.” Another X user wrote that her relative was stranded at the airport, and the passengers only got a sandwich. She wrote, “They just got one sandwich; my relative is stranded there. He just dropped a single text one hour back or so. If not anything, just provide water and food, at least.” She added, “The airport staff is furious about the landing, even though it’s not the passengers’ fault. They are even demanding their passports. My family is worried as Tyson’s phone battery is low, and he may soon lose contact with us. Please do something.”

Virgin Atlantic responded, “Our engineers are continuing their thorough assessments of the aircraft, and we are actively exploring all options, including the operation of an alternative aircraft to ensure customers can reach Mumbai as soon as possible.”