265 Mumbai-bound flyers still stuck in Turkey for more than 30 hours

NEW DELHI: It's been more than 30 hours as 265 passengers of Virgin Atlantic London-Mumbai flight remain stuck at Turkey's Diyarbakır Airport after the plane got diverted due to a medical emergency on Wednesday. The flight, then, had a technical issue, leading to further delays.

Requesting the authorities to respond, Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon said in a post on X, "Can anyone respond please?! 270 odd pax of #VS358 London Mumbai are stuck in Diyarbakir almost a day now! Unusable toilets, no food, no phone chargers, no communication whatsoever from @VirginAtlantic!"

.@UK_CAA @ukhomeoffice @richardbranson
Can anyone respond please?!
270 odd pax of #VS358 London Mumbai are stuck in Diyarbakir almost a day now!
Unusable toilets, no food, no phone chargers, no communication whatsoever from @VirginAtlantic !

— Preeti Sharma Menon (@PreetiSMenon) April 3, 2025

Virgin Atlantic responded to this saying that the passengers were accommodated in a hotel and the airlines was working on a solution to set the passengers on their journey to Mumbai "tomorrow".

"Hi @PreetiSMenon, we’re sincerely sorry for the disruption experienced due to the urgent medical diversion. Our customers are now in overnight hotel accommodation in Turkey, while we work towards a resolution tomorrow so they can continue their journey to Mumbai. We’ll keep all customers informed," it said on Friday.

Hi @PreetiSMenon, we’re sincerely sorry for the disruption experienced due to the urgent medical diversion. Our customers are now in overnight hotel accommodation in Turkey, while we work towards a resolution tomorrow so they can continue their journey to Mumbai. We’ll keep all…

— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) April 3, 2025

"When we landed, first we remained onboard the aircraft for five hours. Then we were asked to alight as the airline needed to fix a technical issue on the plane. We have now been at the airport for 13 hours with Virgin Atlantic neither making any arrangements for us nor giving us any information on when we will leave for Mumbai," Sagar Kochhar, one of the stranded passengers, told TOI.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy assured that it was in constant touch with the airlines regarding "the early resolution of the issue".

"Embassy of India, Ankara is in constant communication with Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Diyarbakir Airport Directorate and Ministry of Foreign Afaiirs, Turkiye. Through Mission’s coordination, appropriate care is being extended to the passengers. We are in discussion with the related authorities for the early resolution of the issue and the arrangement of an alternate flight to Mumbai for the stranded passengers," it said.

Embassy of India, Ankara is in constant communication with Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Diyarbakir Airport Directorate and Ministry of Foreign Afaiirs, Turkiye. Through Mission’s coordination, appropriate care is being extended to the passengers. We are in discussion with the…

— IndiaInTürkiye (@IndiaInTurkiye) April 3, 2025