The Indian Embassy in Kuwait came to the aid of about 60 Indian travellers who had been stranded in Kuwait after a Gulf Air Bahrain-Manchester flight (GF5) on December 1 made an emergency landing.
Kuwait does not give Indians visa-on-arrival, meaning the passengers could not leave the airport. To make matters worse, the airport hotel was not available due to an ongoing meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Kuwait.
After the embassy stepped in, the passengers were put up in two airport lounges.
In a post on social media platform X, the Indian embassy in Kuwait posted that a team from the embassy was at the airport to assist the passengers and coordinate with the airline.
&ldquo;Efforts are being made to accommodate passengers in the airport hotel which is currently unavailable due to the ongoing GCC Summit. It may be noted that Indian nationals do not fall under visa on arrival facility in Kuwait. All government offices are closed today due to the GCC Summit being hosted by Kuwait,&rdquo;&nbsp;it said.
The issue came to light when a video surfaced on social media showing the stranded Gulf Air passengers arguing with the airport authorities. The passengers complained of problems, including not getting &ldquo;food or help&rdquo;.&nbsp;They claimed they were being harassed due to racism after flyers from the European Union, the UK, and the US were given accommodation by the airline, until the embassy clarified the visa rule.
Passengers said their flight took a U-turn before it landed in Kuwait. They said the announcement of the flight diversion came 20 minutes before landing.
Authorities say that the emergency landing was necessitated by an engine fire. Gulf Air did not issue a statement, but the embassy said the airline scheduled a flight for the stranded passengers at 3.30 am on Monday.

The passengers eventually left for Manchester early Monday

Indian travellers were left waiting for 13 hours at Kuwait airport after emergency landing

Indian Embassy Aids 60 Stranded Passengers

Indian travellers were left waiting for 13 hours at Kuwait airport after emergency landing

December 2, 2024 | 11:47 IST