A Cathay Pacific Airways flight from London to Hong Kong kept passengers on the tarmac for five hours, then vacated them from the plane due to “technical issues”, with the airline offering them an alternative flight departing a day later, the Post has learned.
Hong Kong’s flag carrier apologised on Thursday for the aborted flight and said the faulty plane would be transported back to Hong Kong after maintenance, with no passengers on board.
The Post learned the flight was CX250, which was scheduled to depart Heathrow Airport on Wednesday at 6.20pm British time.
It was understood that passengers were told there was a problem with the engine, but it was not until around 11pm that they were instructed to disembark because the issue could not be fixed.
As a result, all passengers had to go back through immigration to collect their luggage, and were offered a one-night stay at the airport hotel by the airline.
Their rescheduled flight is set to take off at 6.20pm British time on Thursday and arrive in Hong Kong on Friday at 2.05pm.
But according to the Cathay Pacific’s website, the rescheduled flight will also be delayed by more than two hours, departing London at 8.50pm and arriving in Hong Kong on Friday at 3.54pm local time.
The airline said the delay of the original flight was caused by a “technical issue”.
“The safety of our customers and crew guides every decision we make,” it said. “We sincerely apologise to our affected customers for the inconvenience caused and appreciate their understanding.”
The company said they had kept customers regularly informed of the situation on the original flight and had provided meal services while inspection work was being conducted.
