After 48-Hour Ordeal, Stranded Virgin Atlantic Passengers Finally Reach Mumbai from Turkey; See Pics

Over 200 passengers stranded at Turkey’s Diyarbakir airport after their Virgin Atlantic flight from London diverted due to a medical emergency, finally reached Mumbai on Friday evening after almost 48 hours.

Virgin Atlantic’s flight VS 358, which departed from London’s Heathrow Airport at 11.40am on Wednesday for Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Internation Airport, was diverted mid-air after an on-board passenger suffered a panic attack. The flight was diverted to Diyarbakir Airport, a military airbase located in a remote area of Turkey.

The incident had created a huge uproar in India while the passengers as well as their relatives in India were tensed about their safety and well-being. However, after 22 hours of being stranded at the remote Turkish airport, Virgin Atlantic continued the flight from Diyarbakir at 3.30pm, which arrived in Mumbai at 8.49pm.

After the passengers complained that the airline did not provide any accomodation or refreshments to them after diversion, the airline started procedures to provide accomodation to the stranded flyers.

Replying to The Free Press Journal’s email, Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said, “The majority of our customers were provided with overnight hotel accommodation ahead of their onward journey today. We’d like to sincerely apologise for the delay and any inconvenience caused.” It added that the severely unwell passenger was assisted by local medical authorities at Diyarbakir airport.

The Indian embassy in Turkey’s Ankara had also flung into action by being in continuous contact with the dirrector of Diyarbakir Airport and related authorities. It had said that it was undertaking all possible coordination and efforts to take care of the stranded passengers. After the flight departed from Diyarbakir on Friday, Muktesh Pardeshi, Ambassador of India to Turkey, posted on X saying that the flight had departed from Diyarbakir and wished a safe journey to all the passengers.

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