Qantas passengers 'stranded for 46 hours' in Dubai
Travellers on a troubled Qantas flight are finally on their way back to Sydney on Wednesday after a series of technical problems delayed their flight for almost two days.
Flight QF2 left London on schedule but was delayed in Dubai on Monday due to a fault with the A380's airconditioning system.
Passengers complained about a lack of communication from the airline.
@Qantas QF2 update Dubai
Come on Qantas, get your act together and advise passengers what is happening to this flight please
— Jean Young (@youngjean21) July 24, 2017
@Qantas Trying to establish info on QF2 Dubai. 16 year old daughter on booking but customer care can't advise. Please help
— gerrybrazil (@gerrybrazil) July 24, 2017
Passengers were put up in hotels overnight and recalled to Dubai International Airport on Tuesday only to experience a second delay when an engineering problem was detected.
As the hours ticked by, passengers and their family members became increasingly agitated.
my wife and 2 kids (3 and 5 years) are on that plane ... so worried #QF2
— narendra (@ndevaskar) July 25, 2017
@qantas I have three small kids tonight devastated their dad isn't home yet and now looking at another 24hr delay. What is going on? #QF2
— Squeally Monkey (@squeallymonkey) July 25, 2017
Rather than delay the passengers further, Qantas commissioned another A380 from partner airline Emirates to fly them back to Sydney.
@Qantas well thats 46 hours at Dubai airport now, our 5 year old has been up since 7am in a terminal thanks to your incompetence. #QF2
— The Owl Sanctuary (@OwlSanctuaryNR1) July 25, 2017
While some travellers were clearly unimpressed with the inconvenience, others praised the airline's staff for getting them back in the air.
Congratulations @qantas for sorting QF2 replacement exDXB. Huge respect to this airline. (Some will still screech, but haters going to hate)
— MorriYoung (@MorriYoung) July 25, 2017
A Qantas spokeswoman has apologised for the extended delay but stressed that safety was paramount.
"We appreciate this has been an extremely frustrating time for passengers and apologise sincerely," she said.
"Delays like this are very unusual, and very regrettable, but we will always put safety before schedule."