SINGAPORE: Hundreds of thousands of passengers, including Singaporeans, are stranded in various cities all over the world due to the war in Iran, which began on Saturday (Feb 28).
Large portions of Middle Eastern airspace have closed, and some major airports have sustained damage from the war as well.
A TikToker from Australia who was en route to Saudi Arabia last weekend found himself stuck at Changi Airport last weekend, though he is one of the lucky ones who has been able to fly out, and he has since arrived in Jeddah.
Sheikh, who can be found as @umarhanif1122 on the platform, posted a video on March 1 from Changi Airport after his flight had been cancelled. The seven-second clip, which has been viewed over 1.6 million times, showed groups of people at the airport, some of whom had stretched out on the carpet and seats, suggesting that they were preparing themselves for a long wait.
“At Singapore airport situation after the flights are cancelled due to the current Middle East conflict and airspace closures,” the TikToker wrote.
By March 3, however, Sheikh posted another video, writing in the caption that he had finally gotten his flight to Jeddah after having been stuck in Singapore for three days.
He thanked Saudi Airlines “for operating the flight and helping passengers continue their journey.”
However, he was none too happy with Scoot Airlines, calling his experience with the low-cost carrier “very disappointing” because his Singapore to Jeddah flight had been cancelled twice, leaving many passengers stranded and stressed.”
“If you are planning to travel to Jeddah, please check flight reliability carefully before booking. Hopefully, travel situations improve soon for everyone,” he added.
Commenters on his video told him, however, that Scoot (or any other airline, for that matter) was not to blame for the cancellations, since they had occurred for the sake of safety due to circumstances beyond their control.
One suggested that the TikToker should be disappointed with the country leaders responsible for the war, as opposed to the airlines.
“Gosh, people need to see real drones or strikes in front of their eyes, then they will realise why all the airlines need to cancel flights,” one wrote.
“If any Scoot flight is delayed in normal times and there’s no info, no assistance given to stuck passengers, or you sit in a plane for a few hours going nowhere… any passenger will be frustrated. But in these times, safety first. Glad you made it back to your destination,” another added. /TISG
Read also: ICA: Additional time needed for immigration clearance due to situation in Middle East
