Over 250 Virgin Atlantic passengers stuck in Turkey; airline exploring options to fly them to Mumbai

Mumbai, Apr 3 (PTI) More than 250 Virgin Atlantic passengers, including Indians, are stranded at an airport in Turkey for over 24 hours after their Mumbai-bound aircraft from London was diverted to the Diyarbakır airport.

Virgin Atlantic on Thursday said it is exploring all options, including operating an alternative aircraft, to fly the passengers to Mumbai.

In a statement, the airline said the VS358 flight from London’s Heathrow to Mumbai on April 2 was cancelled due to an urgent medical diversion to Diyarbakır airport in Turkey.

After landing at the airport, the aircraft had a technical issue.

Apologising for the inconvenience caused to passengers, the airline said its engineers are continuing their thorough assessments of the aircraft.

“We are actively exploring all options, including the operation of an alternative aircraft, to ensure customers can reach Mumbai as soon as possible,” it said.

Over 250 passengers are stuck at the airport. An A350-1000 aircraft was operating the flight that has over 300 seats, according to sources.

On Thursday, a user posted on social media platform X that over 300 Indians and British citizens are trapped in Turkey in an awful situation.

The user, Hanuman Dass, said his family is among those stranded there.

“Doing nothing to help the people, 1 toilet for 300 people and held in a confined space for over 15 hours. @VirginAtlantic staff nowhere to be seen. My family is caught up,” he said in a post.

In another post, he said passengers have no information and it has been 27 hours since they left London.

According to the airline, passengers are being provided with refreshments.