Indians stranded at Kuwait airport after snag leads to flight diversion

NEW DELHI: A technical snag forced Gulf Air's Bahrain-Manchester flight to divert to Kuwait, leaving several Indians stranded at the airport as India does not have a "visa on arrival" agreement with Kuwait, and airport hotels were fully booked due to the ongoing GCC meetings.

Indian embassy has managed to accommodate the stranded passengers in the airport lounge. "The embassy has been informed by Gulf Air that the flight for stranded passengers from Kuwait to Manchester is tentatively scheduled for 3.30 am on Dec 2. Food and water are available for the stranded passengers in the lounges," Indian embassy in Kuwait said on X on Sunday night.

Gulf Air GF5 had taken off from Bahrain at 2.05 am on Sunday, with a planned landing in Manchester after 7.5 hours. However, a technical issue forced it to land at Kuwait at 4.01 am (all times local).

Shivansh, a software engineer among the stranded passengers, said on X, "Reading (foreign minister S Jaishankar's) 'Why Bharat Matters' while getting stuck in Kuwait without any help. All British passport holders got their hotels sorted with a visa on arrival, while Indian passport holders have been left stranded."