A Cathay Pacific flight from Manchester finally arrived in Hong Kong this morning after two days of delays which saw passengers wait about 50 hours to depart.
Flight CX216 was supposed to leave Manchester Airport at 12:20pm BST on Friday, Jul. 20, but passengers were informed when they arrived at the airport that the departure time was delayed by 27 hours — 3:30pm on Saturday — due to “a technical problem with the aircraft.”
The departure time was delayed again to Sunday afternoon. According to live flight-tracking website Flight Aware, flight CX216 finally left Manchester at 12:26pm BST, and landed in Hong Kong at around 6:44am local time.
“The reason for the significant length of the delay is because replacement parts are having to be shipped to Manchester from Hong Kong,” a notice posted in the airport read.
The notice also said that Cathay could not help the affected passengers rebook flights with other airlines as seats were limited on the first weekend of school holidays in Britain.
According to the Apple Daily, some 200 passengers had been affected by the delays, and had to spend a night in a hotel.
These people included honeymooners, and Hongkongers who needed to fly back home and work. The newspaper reported that families had to fly separately due to limited seats on flights.
For a lot of these passengers, the ordeal — including the flight time — lasted at least 72 hours.
2 cancelled flights = 48 hr delay from Manchester to Hong Kong….thank you @cathaypacificUK for f’ing ruining our honeymoon. Should be in Hong Kong now, still in sunny Manchester. FYI your flights aren’t cheap
— Mark Skelly (@MJSkelly85) July 21, 2018
@cathaypacific so unbelievably disappointed and devastated. Due to go on our honeymoon yesterday man-hongkong. Flight cancelled twice!! Can say I've never experienced anything like this with any airline!! Shocking customer service! 3 days lost so far! This needs to be sorted!
— Rebecca yarwood (@YarwoodRebecca) July 21, 2018
One of the passengers, surnamed Law, told Apple Daily that the hotel the airline arranged for the passengers to stay in while they were stranded in Manchester was a one and a half hour car journey away from the airport.
A statement from the airline sent to Coconuts HK* said the aircraft’s hydraulics system was hit by technical issues and replacement parts had to be flown in for the aircraft, was an Airbus A350-900.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. We fully understand that the delay has caused inconvenience to our passengers and disrupted their plans,” the statement said.
“Cathay Pacific apologises for the inconvenience caused to our passengers. Our Customer Relations Department will be in touch with those affected.”
*This article has been updated to include comments from Cathay Pacific.
