Edelweiss brought passengers home from Phuket with this trick.

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They had to hold out for a long time, but finally made it back to Zurich on Sunday evening in an Airbus A340 from Edelweiss (registered HB-JMG). Hundreds of passengers on the holiday airline are stranded on the Thai island of Phuket due to an aircraft malfunction.

Edelweiss spokesman Andreas Meier and a member of the airline’s management greeted passengers at Zurich Airport. As a small apology, Edelweiss executives provided large boxes of Toblerone.

A total of 239 of the 307 original passengers stranded in Phuket were on the plane. The rest found their own solution. So does Peter Ebener, 48, of Uster ZH: The Kuoni travel agency put him, his wife and daughter on a Jetstar flight to Singapore, and from there he flew to Zurich on the Sunday morning, where he arrived. Ebener was lucky: according to him, he and his family took the last vacancies from Singapore. Therefore, the three additional days spent in Phuket had no effect on either work or school. Ebener has no grudge against Edelweiss, “sometimes there are technical problems”. The only thing he criticizes is the flow of information.

More unwanted vacation extensions

Edelweiss spokesperson Meier said: “Our guests are regularly informed via SMS.” However, finding a solution was delayed, so the final change could only be reported late.

And that had it all: An Airbus A340 that was originally supposed to fly to Male (Maldives) was used to pick up passengers in Phuket. “The Male flight was one of three canceled due to this incident,” Meier says. It seems that flights to Mauritius and Mahe (Seychelles) were also affected. “All passengers can be rebooked on other flights,” Meier says.

The Airbus A340, which lost its fuselage parts and was therefore discontinued in Phuket, is still there. The repair is in progress. Edelweiss could not say anything about why. “According to current planning, the plane will return to Zurich on Wednesday,” Meier says.

Big expense for airline

Failure of an aircraft – Edelweiss has four of its own long-range aircraft of the A340 and A330 types – has an immediate impact on flight operations. Finding a solution is always complicated. “About a quarter of our long-haul flights were affected by delays and cancellations,” Meier says.

Sister company Swiss will take over Edelweiss flights to Cape Town this Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday’s flight to Punta Cana will be delayed. According to Meier, there should be no further impact on the flight plan, given the current situation.

Source :Blick