Low-cost carrier AirAsia was criticised after a flight from Kuala Lumpur to South Korea landed at the wrong airport.
AirAsia Flight D7 506 landed at the Gimpo International Airport instead of at the Incheon Airport as scheduled, the Korea Herald reported.
While “turbulence” had apparently forced the plane to divert to Gimpo, the manner in which the situation was handled had left passengers fuming.
According to passengers, the captain had announced that they had arrived at Incheon Airport, only for them to realise they were in fact at Gimpo when they looked out of the windows and checked their phones.
A passenger, identified as Lee Mi-hyun, said the cabin crew were unaware that they had landed at Gimpo “until passengers told them”.
“One crew member even said she needed to call her parents, who were waiting for her at Incheon International Airport,” Lee was quoted as saying, adding that “everyone panicked”.
She also claimed that the crew failed to adequately manage the situation during the two hours that they had to wait before departing for Incheon.
She said stranded passengers were not offered water, leaving those with children upset.
“Some even said they would rather get off at Gimpo before the plane departed for Incheon.”
Lee said the captain and crew apologised over the public announcement system as the plane headed to Incheon.
Other passengers hit out at the airline for failing to provide a clear explanation.
A passenger, identified as Ryu, said during the two hours before departing for Incheon no clear explanation was given over the landing error nor was there “any effort to reassure passengers”.
According to the Korea Herald, AirAsia has not commented on the incident.
