Vacation delayed by 2 days: Budapest-Antalya flight takes off with 40-hour delay

On Sunday morning at 7:15 AM, the Budapest-Antalya flight carrying mainly vacationers finally departed from Budapest after a 40-hour delay.

Budapest-Antalya flight delayed by 40 hours

Originally scheduled to take off on Friday afternoon, Tailwind Airlines’ Budapest-Antalya flight was delayed due to a malfunction. According to a passenger’s account shared with Utazómajom, Lufthansa Technics began repairing the right engine but was unable to fix it by 10 PM.

Following the unsuccessful repair attempts, passengers were given back their luggage and told to return the next morning for a rescheduled Budapest-Antalya flight at 11:40 AM. However, the flight did not depart the next day either, and the police had to calm the passengers.

Flight finally takes off on Sunday morning

On Saturday afternoon, the awaiting vacationers were transported by minibus to a hotel on Üllői Road in Budapest. Utazómajom reported that some passengers gave up hope of reaching the Turkish seaside this year and went home on Saturday. Others decided that even a five-day vacation was better than nothing. Ultimately, the flight took off on Sunday morning with 60 passengers on board.

Unprecedented chaos in air travel

The last few weeks have seen a particularly high number of delays and cancellations in European air travel, which affected many fans travelling to the football World Cup, Telex writes. Airlines have been pointing the finger at air traffic controllers: it turned out that Budapest has been a hotspot for delays in Europe.

Katalin Valentínyi, Deputy CEO of Communications and Government Relations at Budapest Airport, said that delays can be expected throughout September. According to the expert, one of the main reasons is that European airspace is very congested, for example, due to the summer season, the tourist season and sporting events such as the European Football Championship and the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Read also:

• Was your flight delayed or cancelled? Here are Budapest Airport’s reasons for the current disruptions
• Flight delays: Budapest Airport helps passengers with support points