KARACHI, July 13: Passengers of a private airline suffered tremendously on Wednesday morning for what its officials said “technical fault” in the aircraft. The Shaheen Airlines flight was to leave Karachi at 12.45am for Abu Dhabi and Muscat. Eight of the 25 passengers were bound for Muscat and the rest for Abu Dhabi. Most of them complained that they were to report for work there on Wednesday, but “now it is clear that we cannot do so even on Thursday”.

The airline has lodged these stranded passengers in a Saddar hotel.

“We are not yet told that when a flight would be available and what time we would reach our destinations,” said a man employed in a Muscat construction firm. He admitted that they were “comfortable” in the hotel, but “highly disturbed mentally”.

“The hotel people have been told to give us three meals a day. But we are not here just to eat and drink. We want to go to our workplaces as soon as possible.”

A Shaheen Airlines official said a flight of another airline would fly the Abu Dhabi-bound passengers at 8.30am on Thursday whereas the Muscat-bound passengers would leave at 12.30pm by another flight. The agitated passengers were sceptic about the exact timing of the flights.

The hotel manager corroborated the statement by saying that the accommodation had been reserved for just two days. “They had arrived here at about 3am. Now (around 8pm) they have all gone out with an employee of the airline,” said the manager.— N.A.