Several Singaporean families were left confused, frustrated and hungry when they got stranded at Athens International Airport. The passengers were bound for Singapore via Scoot flight TR713 scheduled to depart on Dec 18 at 1120hrs. By December 19, the Singaporean travelers were still stuck inside the airport for more than 24 hours.
A technical issue had the Singaporean passengers, including 321 other travelers, get on and get off the aircraft many times. The Scoot flight was originally slated to leave Athens at 11:20 am local time on December 18.
In a statement, Scoot authorities said the passengers were initially requested to disembark the Boeing 787 after it took longer than expected to resolve “operational considerations arising from equipment limitations.”
As soon as the issue was resolved, passengers got on the plane again only to be asked to get off for the second time because the “operating crew’s flight time limits unfortunately ran out.”
This required a grounding of the aircraft with a re-scheduled departure at 11am local time on Dec 19. Within the waiting period though, hotel accommodation and meals were provided to the passengers.
Unluckily, when the passengers returned and the re-scheduled flight was preparing for departure, Scoot was informed that flight approval has been withdrawn.
Because of the new development, passengers had to again disembark from the aircraft. Scoot authorities finally decided to take a ferry flight from Singapore to Athens to fetch affected TR713 passengers back to Singapore.
“Scoot sincerely apologizes for this extended flight disruption and the inconvenience it had caused to customers’ travel plans,” Scoot authorities said. “Affected customers can opt for a refund via vouchers or to their mode of payment, if they prefer not to continue their travel with Scoot. Customers who choose to continue their journey with Scoot will be compensated based on our Guest Promise.”