SWISS passengers stranded in Kazakhstan flown to Zurich

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has repatriated 331 passengers who were stranded in Kazakhstan after an incident at Astana airport on Saturday. They were picked up by Austrian Airlines on Sunday.

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A SWISS plane had got stuck in a meadow during a manoeuvre at Astana airport on Saturday and had remained blocked on the ground. The passengers had to spend the night in hotels in Astana and took off on Sunday with an Austrian Airlines plane for Vienna, SWISS said. From Vienna, a SWISS plane took the passengers to Zurich.

The SWISS Boeing 777 was flying from Tokyo to Zurich on Satuday and had to make a stopover in Astana due to a medical emergency. During a manoeuvre on the runway, the aircraft’s front wheel became stuck in a meadow. The plane was eventually towed back to the runway. There were no injuries.

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SWISS technicians flew to Astana and, in agreement with Boeing and the Kazakh and Swiss authorities, inspected the aircraft for damage. Assuming that the inspection goes smoothly, a new crew will transfer the aircraft to Zurich “as soon as possible”, SWISS said.

The Astana incident will affect SWISS’s long-haul flight schedule until Tuesday at least. In the absence of a spare aircraft, SWISS cancelled its Sunday flight to and from Los Angeles. In addition, a departure for Bangkok on Sunday was reportedly delayed by several hours, and a departure for Sao Paulo on Monday evening was postponed until Tuesday morning.

SWISS says that further delays or cancellations depend on the return of the Boeing 777 from Astana and its operational capacity.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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