Passengers in flap after Kuwait Airways drama

Passengers on a Kuwait Airways flight to Beirut were up in arms yesterday after their plane was twice diverted and then returned to the Gulf country. Kuwait Airways’ flight 501 was scheduled to fly to the Lebanese capital on Friday afternoon, but could not land due to heavy fog, the Kuwait Times reported. The plane was diverted to Larnaca in Cyprus, where it stayed for two hours before trying to fly into Beirut for a second time. Bad weather conditions meant the aircraft still could not land, and was forced to fly back to the Mediterranean country. Passengers were initially not allowed to leave the aircraft, but were eventually allowed to disembark after many of them protested, reports said. Later they claimed they had been harassed at the airport “as if they were terrorists”, in addition to being left without food vouchers or assistance from Kuwait Airways staff or ground crew. After being stranded in Cyprus for some time, the passengers were eventually instructed to re-board the plane, but were flown back to Kuwait instead of their planned destination. They were booked on another flight that left for Beirut at 4pm.c