PUBLISHED ONOctober 12, 2025 3:21 AMBYMelissa Teo A Vietnam Airlines flight bound for Hanoi from Singapore scheduled to depart on Friday (Oct 10) afternoon only ended up departing the next day, leaving passengers stranded at Changi Airport for nearly 14 hours.
According to global travel data provider OAG, flight VNN660 was scheduled to depart Terminal 3 at 1.05pm on Oct 10 and land in Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport at 3.35pm the same day.
However, the flight only took off on Oct 11 at 2.54am and landed in Hanoi at 5.05am.
Over 100 passengers were affected and the departure time was repeatedly delayed throughout the day, reported Shin Min Daily News on Oct 11.
A civil servant surnamed Wei told the Chinese daily that his wife and two relatives were supposed to go to Hanoi for a five-day trip till Oct 14. They had spent $400 on round-trip tickets, with return flights booked on Singapore Airlines.
They first learned that their flight had been delayed while waiting at the boarding gate around 12pm on Friday and the staff did not share the reason why.
The staff subsequently informed passengers of further flight delays approximately every three hours, Wei said.
"They first said the flight would be available at 3pm, then they said it would be delayed to 6pm, and then to 9pm," the 30-year-old recounted.
In a video Wei showed to Shin Min, a male staff member explained to the passengers that the plane was not fit for flight. A male passenger replied that if that was the case, the airline should have announced it on the spot rather than 12 hours later.
Another male passenger reportedly also said: "The airline needs to make a public statement for the over 200 of us passengers and give us a reasonable explanation."
Wei's wife later heard news that the plane had been struck by a bird and needed to be repaired.
While the plane was cleared for take-off after midnight, Wei's wife and relatives decided not to board the flight due to safety concerns.
Therefore, they waited another two more hours for their luggage and only left the airport at around 5am on Saturday.
[[nid:641712]]
melissateo@asiaone.com
