SINGAPORE: Singapore-bound passengers were among thousands of travellers stranded at Hamad International Airport in Doha on Tuesday (Jun 24) after the temporary closure of several countries’ airspace.
Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait temporarily shut their airspace late on Monday after Iran’s strike on a US military base in Qatar’s capital Doha, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute hundreds of flights and creating a backlog of stranded passengers.
Three passengers travelling to Singapore told CNA that there was no clear indication when they would be able to get another flight. They had also not been provided with any accommodation arrangements.
Ms Melodie Yip, who had been transiting at the airport, was meant to fly out of Doha on Monday night on Qatar Airways, but her flight was cancelled.
After queuing for around eight hours to rebook another flight that was meant to depart this afternoon, she later learnt that this flight had been cancelled as well.
She is waiting for another flight to leave the country, but said she does not expect to get a flight on Tuesday night.
“When I heard the second flight was cancelled, I was very, very anxious because I didn’t want to go through that … eight-hour queue again,” she said.
However, she said that she had found some comfort in the other Singaporeans who were in the queue with her.
Ms Yip said she expected to get a flight on Wednesday and hoped it would not be cancelled again.
“If it’s tomorrow, I’m hoping that they will also give us some like hotel stay, or at least some sort of accommodation,” she said.
“I think Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways were not prepared for such a crisis, which is unexpected for a world-class, award-winning airline and airport,” she added.
