180 stranded in Dubai by glitch fly home

The 180 passengers stranded in Dubai since Saturday have finally been granted relief and flew home on Tuesday, following TUI’s aircraft developing a fault with the aircraft’s flap.

According to Dutch news media, the passengers were transferred on board an Emirates flight, EK149, bound for Amsterdam, while TUI’s Boeing 737 TUI still remain in Dubai, awaiting repairs.

Angry passengers took to social media to complain a four-day holiday turned into a ‘nightmare’ when shortly before take-off on Saturday, a faulty wing flap was discovered.

The result vacationers arrive four days later than planned in the Netherlands.

The passengers of flight OR410 were therefore accommodated in hotels.

However, irate passengers took to Twitter to complain of ‘lack of information’ from the airline staff that kept them in the dark for days.

Responding to a passenger’s query on further information, in a string of tweets on June 5, TUI stated on its official Twitter account, “Unfortunately, we do not have more concrete info at the moment about flight OR410. We have some technical issues, which we are solving and repairing at the moment.

“We are doing everything we can at the moment to solve all the problems. So that you can leave back to Amsterdam as soon as possible. Just to be on the safe side we have extent your hotel in Dubai for another 24 hours.”

Come Monday, passengers complained of no respite yet in site, with a Marloes Laarschot took to Twitter with a snapshot of a text message she received from TUI saying: “After an almost 48 hours delay, TUI is now considering all other possibilities to get us back to Amsterdam.

“They have done nothing the first 36 hours, just waiting for a mechanic. Only now are they going to see other possibilities. Nice then.”

Tonnie Peijer tweeted a picture of the group of passengers stuck in Dubai, complaining the airline ‘neglected to provide adequate information’.

Several other passengers were worried they lacked adequate clothing and feared fines for wearing shorts in Dubai during Ramadan.