After waiting nine long hours for their flight to take to the skies, a group of passengers were left feeling understandably frustrated when they were told the plane won’t be flying at all.
One of the passengers recounted the sequence of events to 8world News and expressed dissatisfaction over how the matter was handled by the airline.
Passengers on Malacca-SG flight wait 9 hours for takeoff
According to the passenger surnamed Lin, he said the Scoot TR403 flight was scheduled to depart Malacca at 10.15pm last Friday (Jan 10) and arrive in Singapore at 11.10pm.
He added that he bought four tickets for himself, his wife, colleague, and child as they needed to attend an event in Singapore on Saturday (Jan 11).
“We arrived at the Malacca International Airport around 8pm, completed check-in, and proceeded to the waiting area. Since the flight to Singapore was short, we planned to have dinner upon arriving.
“However, when the scheduled departure time came, the plane was nowhere in sight. I then checked FlightRadar for flight information and saw that the previous flight was delayed due to weather, which was understandable,” he said.
Lin said the plane eventually arrived after 11pm, but when passengers were still unable to board by midnight, he sensed something was amiss.
I saw several technicians inspecting the plane’s engine. I asked the staff what was going on and why we couldn’t board. They said it was due to weather conditions.
“At around 1am, my child became cranky from hunger and several passengers grew impatient. While the Scoot staff handed out bottled water and bread, they still didn’t allow us to board.
“Many passengers kept asking what the issue was, but the staff insisted it was due to the weather,” he said.
At 2.30am, passengers were finally given the green light to board and Lin said he fell asleep shortly after boarding but woke up 30 minutes later to find the plane still at the runway.
“The captain then informed us via the PA system that the plane’s engine couldn’t start and had to be towed back to the hangar and told us to disembark from the plane.
I was furious because we waited for so long. I even asked earlier if there was a problem with the plane, but they kept saying it was the weather. Why couldn’t they inform us earlier that the plane couldn’t fly?
“We could’ve made other arrangements instead of waiting from 8pm to 4am!” he fumed.
Due to the sudden cancellation, Lin had to drive to Johor Bahru at around 5am before taking a car ride to Singapore, where they arrived at around 10am and nearly missed the event.
Demands RM6,200 in compensation
Due to the flight cancellation, Lin said he suffered losses due to the cost of his Singapore hotel booking. Additionally, he had to fork out extra money for transportation from Johor Bahru to Singapore, fuel, toll fees, and other expenses.
As such, he is seeking approximately RM6,200 in compensation from Scoot, including the airfare.
According to a screenshot provided by Lin, Scoot had sent a text message to affected passengers at 12.40pm on Saturday asking them to go to the Scoot counter by 1.30pm to take a long-distance bus to Singapore.
Airline apologises
In response to 8world News’ inquiries, a Scoot spokesperson said the cancellation of flight TR403 was caused by a malfunction with Malacca International Airport’s fuel truck, which prevented the plane from refueling.
The spokesperson added Scoot provided affected passengers with accommodation and meals and arranged alternative transportation to Singapore at 2pm on Saturday.
“Due to severe weather in Singapore and surrounding areas last weekend, several flights experienced delays or had to reschedule their departure times.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and Scoot will continue to monitor weather conditions closely and make operational adjustments as needed as the safety and well-being of passengers and crew remain our top priority.”
If you thought a 9-hour delay was bad, passengers on this flight had to wait for 22 hours:
