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Passengers stranded at KLIA for five days
KUALA LUMPUR – Hanging around airports has become a common thread this week from London to Kuala Lumpur to Bali.
At Heathrow, bad weather in the UK forced cancellations of flights, leaving some passengers to wait days to resume their journeys.
In Bali 300-plus Jetstar passengers en route from Bangkok to Melbourne were stranded for 17 hours after their plane was re-routed to Denpasar airport after the captain shut down one of the two engines as a precautionary measure on the three-week old Airbus 330-200.
But this was nothing compared to an Australian family stranded at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for five days after failing to get seats on Malaysia Airlines flights to Melbourne.
NST Online reported that the family has been sleeping on a row of seats in the terminal building, bathing at the airport’s restrooms and surviving on a diet of bread, tuna and instant noodles.
In April, businessman Afrasiyab Mohammadiyan Diznab, 52, his wife, Vesaliyeh Norouzi, 51, their daughter, Saba, 21, and son, Houman, 13, went to Teheran to visit relatives — their first visit since migrating to Australia 13 years ago
They planned to be back in Melbourne in May. However, they could not find any available MAS flights to Kuala Lumpur as they were travelling on open tickets. “We had to wait two extra months before we got the flights.
“But when we reached here on Monday, we were told that all the flights to Melbourne were fully booked and the next available flight was in mid-August,” said Saba, a beauty therapist.
She was told they would get seats if other confirmed passengers cancelled their flights and they had to register themselves on the waiting list every time there was a flight to Melbourne.
“We can’t stay in any hotels because we have to save our money in case we need to buy another ticket for my mum, as it is expiring on Tuesday.
“I know this is the risk of buying open tickets but we didn’t expect to be stranded here this long,” Saba said.
She hoped their ordeal would end soon as her mother was suffering from a stomach ulcer and did not have her medication.
Ian Jarrett
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