By Zaihan Mohd Yusof

THEY were stranded for two days without their belongings and with no idea of when they would be able to leave Guangzhou.

And that proved to be a bit too much for a group of Tiger Airways passengers bound for Singapore.

Seeking answers, some resorted to banging on the doors of the budget airline's cabin crew, who were staying in the same hotel in Guangzhou.

Worried that the incident would worsen, the crew slipped out of the hotel the next morning.

Their flight, TR 987, could not take off last Wednesday because of technical problems.

After they had boarded the A320 aircraft, the passengers were told to disembark and wait for further instructions. They waited for two hours, and then were taken to a hotel 15 minutes away.

No representative

It was only on Saturday, around 2.30pm, that they finally took off.

One of the estimated 50 Singaporeans on the flight, who gave his name only as Mr Teow, said: 'It was understandable that some passengers would be upset, but it wasn't the Singaporeans who harassed the crew. They were foreigners.

'We (the Singaporeans) were upset too because there were no Tiger Airways representatives on site to address our concerns.'

Mr Matt Hobbs, the airline's spokesman, confirmed the incident at the hotel.

He said the matter was being investigated and 'action would be taken if it's required'.

Recalling what happened, Mr Teow, an insurance agent in his 40s, said: 'We were seated for 30 minutes in the aircraft before we were told to make our way to the lounge area. The captain said there was a technical fault.

'Then we waited another two hours in the lounge area. I thought we would still be able to leave that day. Frankly, I would rather be delayed and safe, than sorry later.'

Added Mr Teow: 'We were told by hotel staff that our flight would resume on Thursday, but on that day, nobody told us to stand by. We didn't know what was happening.'

Mr Hobbs said that while no airline representative was present, Tiger Airways had agents to help the stranded passengers.

Full flights

'Our agents were in contact with the staff at the hotel. We tried to accommodate passengers who wanted to take alternative flights out of the country, but unfortunately, all flights were full,' he said.

On Thursday, passengers found out that they could have left earlier if not for the incident involving the crew and unhappy passengers.

Hotel staff gave the stranded group a fax from Tiger Airways.

It read: 'We would have been able to depart earlier if not for an incident where our cabin crew were confronted by the affected passengers at the hotel.

'They are now unable to operate the flight and we have had to send in fresh crew to operate this return flight.'

Asked why exactly the crew could not operate the flight, and whether any of them were injured in the incident, the airline declined to comment.

While those we spoke to were generally satisfied with the hotel stay, one passenger and his family were upset with the food arrangements.

Mr Abdul Rahim, 47, said over the phone from the Guangzhou hotel: 'We were assured that we would get halal food during our stay here. But the hotel staff told us to pay for our food first and claim later.

'But how to do so when I'm out of Chinese currency? And it's not just at any restaurant that I can buy food for my family.'

The businessman had travelled to China with eight relatives.

Like most of the passengers, they had to wear the same clothes they had on Wednesday throughout.

Mr Rahim said: 'We could not change to fresh clothes because they had all been checked-in. Milk powder and pills to treat one of my relatives who has high cholesterol had all been kept in the luggage.

'One of my brothers-in-law had to report to work (on Thursday), but he is not sure what to tell his employer as we have no idea when we will be able to get a flight out.'

Mr Rahim managed to find food at a halal restaurant nearby on Thursday night.

Their attempts to reach the Tiger Airways' International Call Centre were unsuccessful, he said.

Mr Hobbs explained that there had been an increase in demand, so 'calls take a little longer'.

Top photo: A Tiger Airways passenger could barely contain her excitement when she arrived in Singapore on Saturday. The budget airline's flight from Guangzhou was delayed for two days.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Dec 20, 2008.