Passengers were left furious after their flight from Melaka to Singapore was delayed by hours and then cancelled.
According to a report by 8World, Scoot flight TR403 was scheduled to depart from Melaka at 10:15pm on Friday (January 10) and arrive in Singapore at 11:10pm.
One of the passengers, Mr. Lin, who had arrived at the airport at 8pm, shared that he was heading to Singapore for an event on Saturday (January 11), and had purchased 4 tickets for himself, his wife, their child and a colleague.
When the scheduled take-off time arrived, he did not expect that there would be no sign of the plane.
“I checked FlightRadar and saw that the previous flight was delayed due to the weather, which was understandable,” he said.
Their plane allegedly only arrived in Melaka at around 11pm but by 12am, they were still unable to check-in which caused concern.
“I saw a lot of technicians standing next to the plane, checking the engine. I asked the staff what was wrong and why we couldn’t board the plane. They told me it was because of the weather,” Mr. Lin explained.
By 1am, Mr. Lin’s child started getting agitated out of hunger and other passengers also began to get impatient. Scoot staff apparently distributed mineral water and bread to passengers but they were still unable to board the plane.
“Many passengers kept asking them what the problem was and whether there was something wrong with the plane, but they kept saying it was due to the weather.”
Only at 2:30am did the staff allow passengers to board the plane.
Mr. Lin shared that he fell asleep immediately after getting onto the plane but when he woke up half an hour later, they had not taken off yet.
The plane’s captain then apparently announced that the plane had to return to the hangar due to the engine not starting, and asked the passengers to disembark.
“I was very angry when I heard that because we had waited for a long time. I apologised and asked them if there was a problem with the plane, but they kept saying it was due to the weather. Why couldn’t they tell us in advance that the plane couldn’t fly so that we could make other arrangements instead of making us wait from 8pm to 4am?” he said.
Mr. Lin and his family ended up having to drive to Johor Bahru at 5am, and take a bus from Johor Bahru to Singapore. However, considering they only arrived in Singapore past 10am, they had missed their scheduled activities.
Given all the losses and costs that arose from this, Mr. Lin is seeking claims of RM6,200.
He had called Scoot’s customer service to make this request but was allegedly told that they would provide gift certificates as compensation and that refunds would take 20 days to process and another 14 days to be credited.
“I think this is a problem with their aircraft, so I hope they can compensate me for my tickets and all other losses.”
Scoot has since responded.
A Scoot spokesperson said that a fuel tanker problem at the Melaka International Airport prevented the plane from refuelling, and flight TR403 had to be cancelled.
They added that Scoot also provided accommodation and meals to the affected passengers, and arranged for them to take alternative transportation to Singapore at 2pm on Saturday (January 11).
“Due to the severe weather conditions in and around Singapore over the weekend, several flights were delayed or had to be rescheduled,” they said.
They also explained that the safety and well-being of passengers and crew is their top priority and that they will continue to closely monitor weather conditions and make operational adjustments when necessary.
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