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Passengers on SIA flight from Istanbul to S'pore endure near 38-hour flight delay, rescheduled 3 times
The flight was delayed thrice.
December 16, 2025, 03:22 PM
Passengers aboard a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Singapore faced a nearly 38-hour delay after their flight experienced a technical issue.
The original flight, SQ391, was scheduled to depart on Dec. 12, 2025 at 1:15pm but was rescheduled thrice, resulting in its eventual departure on Dec. 14, 2025 at 3am.
The passengers shared their frustrations over how the delays were managed and called for "far clearer communication, better contingency planning and stronger passenger support when disruptions extend beyond a day".
In response to Mothership queries, the SIA spokesperson stated that the airline sincerely apologises to all customers affected by the disruption to flight SQ391, and that safety is its top priority.
Passengers were stuck in the plane for 4 hours due to technical issue
Passengers described to Mothership how the flight was repeatedly dogged by delays.
The original aircraft was scheduled to depart from Istanbul Airport on Dec. 12 at 1:15pm local time and taxied to the runway.
According to one such passenger, CT, the plane did not take off and passengers remained onboard for nearly four hours before disembarking.
The delay was first announced by the pilot when passengers were already on the plane.
The SIA spokesperson stated that the Airbus A350-900, a long haul aircraft "returned to the bay shortly before take-off due to a technical issue with the aircraft flaps".
All 229 customers remained on board and were given food and beverages as on-site engineers attempted to rectify the issue, hence why passengers did not initially disembark during the nearly four hour wait.
"This was done to facilitate a quicker departure if our engineers could successfully resolve the technical issue."
However, a spare part was needed and additional time and support for repairs were required.
A veteran steward allegedly told CT that in his 24 years of service, he had only encountered five such incidents.
Prioritising safety, decisions were made to delay the flight
Staff proceeded to escort passengers to retrieve their checked-in luggage, however "there were no clear announcements or updates explaining the situation", alleged CT.
Passengers were offered meal vouchers for selected food court stalls and two options for accommodation while waiting for updates. The first was to stay at an airport hotel and the second was to transfer to a city hotel which required a journey of about 30 minutes.
However, CT took issue with the meal vouchers, saying "it was not enough" as passengers had to fork out money for medication and additional meals as "the food was not pleasant".
"We have to pay for some meals ourselves. We also needed to buy some medications as we only cater for the 10 day tour."
After collecting their luggage at around 8pm local time, passengers checked into their hotels at 9:30pm and were informed that the new departure time was 7pm on Dec. 13.
Flight was further delayed
On the afternoon of Dec. 13, passengers were informed that the flight was delayed to 12am on Dec. 14, but it was pushed back to 3am the same day.
CT alleged that there was "no dedicated Singapore Airlines spokesperson on the ground" to provide updates, and relied on the assistance of the European tour guide instead.
In response, SIA said that they "provided affected customers with regular updates and the necessary assistance".
This included meal vouchers and overnight hotel accommodation. In addition, SIA also assisted in rebooking the affected customers’ connecting flights in Singapore.
SQ391 was renumbered to SQ9391, and departed Istanbul on Dec. 14 at 3am local time, arriving in Singapore at 7:14pm on the same day.
The SIA spokesperson reiterated that "the safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority"
Top photo from rose.shira/Instagram and Emily Rusch/Unsplash
