Russian Passengers Stranded 36 Hours at Istanbul Airport After Flight Diverted

Russian travellers whose flight was redirected to Istanbul have been stuck at the Turkish airport for 36 hours, one passenger told TASS.

The plane was turned around over Belarus on the night of 14 October and sent back to Istanbul because of restrictions at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, the passenger said. Passengers were split across different flights.

A flight scheduled for 02:10 local time was pushed to 07:30 and then delayed repeatedly, the passenger said. One departure was moved from 09:00 to 14:30, while another was set for 10:20.

Heavy rain over Istanbul was blamed for the widespread delays. Passengers were put up in a hotel after returning to Turkey, but spent the last 12 hours in the terminal, the passenger said. Turkish Airlines stopped hotel placements on the evening of 14 October because of a shortage of rooms. Some passengers learned of further schedule changes while being bused to the airport.

Earlier, a Russian woman stranded at Istanbul airport described her experience as going into a second day without sleep. She had been flying to Moscow from Los Angeles with a stopover in the Turkish city on the night of 14 October.