Fog causes 10 hour delay on Air Malta flight

Passengers of an Air Malta flight from Catania to Malta were left seething after KM643 was delayed by 10 hours due to fog. The plane was scheduled to leave at 9pm on Saturday and but only took off for home at 7am on Sunday.

A woman took to the popular Facebook page ‘Are you being served?’ where she commented that the point of her frustration was that not much information had been provided until about 3am.

She wrote that had the passengers at least received some information regarding the extent of the delay, they could have made arrangements to book a night at a nearby hotel, even if it at their own expense.

“Do you know what it means to be stuck 10 hours at an airport? People were asleep on the floor, everybody stuck inside without even the possibility of buying a cup of coffee, or able to charge your mobile,” she wrote.

An Air Malta representative promptly replied to the social media complaint, expressing sympathy for the lengthy delays and explaining that the plane tried to land in Catania twice, but was unable to do so due to the weather. The representative wrote that refreshments were provided and that when the airline became aware that the delay would be a lengthy one, it attempted to book rooms for all passengers at a nearby hotel, but found them all to be fully booked. Lack of visibility due to fog appeared to make headlines in Catania. It was explained that when, at about 3am, it became clear that the flight would operate in a matter of hours, the airline felt it was not practical to continue looking for hotel rooms in view of time constraints.

The representative said that once the authorities in Catania cleared the way for the airport to open again, the flight was allowed to leave immediately, and expressed her regret at a situation that was out of the airline’s control.