Passengers waiting for the plane. PHOTO: Manchestereveningnews.co.uk.
MANCHESTER: An Airblue flight bound from Manchester to Islamabad reported a fault on Friday, causing as many as 300 passengers a delay of over 40 hours, reported Manchester Evening News.
The flight to Islamabad was scheduled for take-off at 9.50pm Friday. It was then postponed to 3pm Sunday, but passengers still found themselves waiting at 4pm.
A spokesperson for Airblue, a private Pakistani airline, stated that passengers were offered rooms in the nearest hotel that could accommodate them.
However, many passengers preferred to stay at the airport instead of going to a hotel which was at least 80 miles away in Birmingham.
Manchester Airport said on Sunday that it was assisting Airblue in the matter.
COMMENTS (7)
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AIR BLUE are starting BIRMINGHAM direct NONSTOP flights to ISLAMABAD and LAHORE - the airline do not have IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT-
Demand is high VIRGIN< B.M.I. and British Airways must start BIRMINGHAM direct LONG HAUL flights to Pakistan Karachi and Lahore - Demand is HIGH.
Another airline like IR BLUE and delays is Turkmenistan who fly Birmingham to India - refuel stop Ashkabad and treat passengers unfairly with overload and delays and treated like Prizoners- I was kept in Ashkabad for a week on route Karachi to Heathrow and arrived in Birmingham a week later-
The worse airline for asian's but has a television screen in air.
I dont understand why there are so much attack on Air Blue. The plane developed technical fault. Fine. PIA has had these issues for long. Unfortuntely there was one incident with Air Blue, and that too seems to be pilot error, where as PIA, Shaheem Njoja and the lot had major tech issues yet they kept flying.
I had been associated with PIA for 40 years (my Dad worked for the Airline, and retired when there was still some respect). And I had preferred Air Blue over PIA for long now, and had always had no issues or delays whilst travelling.
Why in the world will you want to fly this airline? Domestic flights I understand but an international flight! I will never risk losing my vacations for their incompetence and for a few cheap bucks. Beyond comprehension.
Why is air blue even allowed to fly to the UK? Using leased A-320s to fly to Manchester and back via Turkey is just a nightmare for the poor passengers. I personally know quite a few people who said though they saved some money travelling with air blue, they have learned their lesson and will never travel with air blue again. Saving dollars does not bond well with saving time and having a pleasant flying experience as far as this airline goes. A-320s are not meant for long route flying. You are cramped in a small seat which I guess is fine for domestic travel or at max to Dubai etc but certainly not to UK. Take other alternative airlines but try skipping air blue especially if your next destination happens to be Manchester!
Heard an irate passenger complaining about this on the BBC radio lastnight. All I could think of was how ungrateful he was to be given a home in the UK and how he always had teh choice to move back to asia if UK was so bad.
Keeping in view the track record of Air Blue, I wonder what prompt people to select this airline. Is it great deals on the ticket or the lure of eating biryani instead of western food.
This delay, failure are charted and do not come by if they are on planned maintenance. Airblue with a track of accident and related revelations are not easy to swallow. Poor Pakistani returning from Manchestor for Eid holidays, has to go thru a tough test of endurance. I hope the aircraft's maintenance schedule should have gone similar endurance. AirBlue has steady revenues and a fair degree of faith still with the passengers, and it should not let it go by. The President/CEO of Airbus is invited for a summit in Paris in October on Aerospace for networking with Airbus, and major operators of A-380 under one roof with the CEO of the new re-branded Airbus. Be in the international arena for a new leasing program of Airbus to suit your budget. Cheers