Passengers stranded

Graz Airport: Plane delayed by over 25 hours

They had actually wanted to be on the Turkish Riviera on Monday: Great annoyance among passengers due to massive delay.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Numerous passengers had an extremely unpleasant start to their vacation at Graz Airport: instead of enjoying the sun on the Turkish Riviera, they had to put up with a delay of over 25 hours. "Many people had to sleep in their cars," said one of the many annoyed passengers.

A Sun Express flight to Antalya on the Turkish Riviera was supposed to take off at 7 p.m. on Sunday. But nothing came of it, as disgruntled vacationers tell the "Krone".

The plane did not arrive and the departure was postponed until Monday at 5.30 pm. "People from further away had to spend the night in their cars, it was completely chaotic," reports one affected person. The airport said that there were hardly any hotel rooms available in and around Graz because of the Grand Prix in Spielberg.

On Monday, one day after the actual departure, the flight was delayed again - the latest time was 21:15.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The next disappointment the next day
Graz Airport does not know exactly why the plane did not arrive on Sunday: "We were only told by the airline that there were operational reasons and that the flight was postponed to Monday at 5.30 p.m.," says airport spokeswoman Doris Pölt. 

But then the next disappointment: even at the announced time on Monday, no plane took off for Antalya, but is said to have taken off from there for Graz. The passengers lost more than 25 hours (!) of their vacation - the stranded passengers were correspondingly angry and frustrated. "Of course, a situation like this is extremely unpleasant, but unfortunately we can't influence it," says airport spokeswoman Pölt. 

Then - more than 27 hours after the original departure time - the odyssey finally came to an end for the holidaymakers: the delayed plane landed in Graz at 8.30 pm and took off for the Turkish Riviera shortly after 10 pm.