Hundreds of passengers bound for Sydney on an Air India flight were reportedly left stuck on the tarmac at Canberra airport last night after their plane was redirected.
Flight AI302 from Delhi to Sydney on February 26 was diverted to Canberra due to adverse weather conditions in Sydney, an Air India spokesperson told nine.com.au.
It landed in Canberra around 8pm but passengers were unable to disembark.
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"During routine checks after landing a technical issue was detected on the aircraft which required extended time for rectification," the spokesperson said.
"Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers by this unforeseen situation beyond our control."
The said efforts were made to minimise inconvenience caused by the unscheduled diversion to Canberra airport, which is not in Air India's operating network.
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"Refreshments and meals were served to them at the airport while arrangements were made to send them to Sydney by road from Canberra at the earliest," they said.
"The elderly and women passengers with infants were prioritised in giving accommodation to the limited number of rooms available at the hotels.
"Passengers who made their own arrangements to proceed to Sydney were assured of reimbursement of the transportation charges."
Some passengers claim they were "abandoned" at Canberra airport and that communication from Air India was "non-existent".
Elloise, better known online as influencer @elloise_fit, claimed passengers were kept on the plane for more than five hours after the flight touched down in Canberra.
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According to her Instagram posts, passengers were told at around 12.30am that they would be transported to Sydney in taxis.
"The communication from Air India was non-existent and there were 250+ displaced people waiting for cabs at 1am that may or may not have even showed up," she wrote on social media.
"We decided to book a hotel room in Canberra and hire a car to drive home tomorrow."
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