A Virgin-Atlantic flight from London to Mumbai that departed Heathrow on 2 April 2025 and should have landed in India’s largest city around 9 hours later, instead turned into a two-day nightmare for the 250 passengers on board. A medical emergency on board and a subsequent hard landing at an airport in southeastern Türkiye led to a technical issue that grounded the Airbus A350-1000 and resulted in the passengers being stranded without adequate assistance, according to complaints on social media.
“The VS358 flight from London Heathrow to Mumbai on 2 April was cancelled due to an urgent medical diversion to Diyarbakir airport in Türkiye and subsequent technical inspections required,” Virgin Atlantic said, adding: “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
Received a distress call from a passenger on @VirginAtlantic flight VS358 from #London to #Mumbai , now stranded in #DiyarbakirAirport in #Turkey – apparently a military facility – emergency landing .
— loveena tandon (@loveenatandon) April 3, 2025
It’s been 20hours without any concrete communication from airline or food or… pic.twitter.com/RE4h2JiHYe
“Lack of humanity”
That inconvenience included “barely any food, one toilet amongst 275 pax, phones running out of batteries as they don’t have Turkish adapters,” said Indian politician Preeti Sharma Menon, a national spokesperson for the Aam Aadmi Party, who was on the flight. She pointed out that children, pregnant women, diabetics and elderly people were among those putting up with the lack of facilities and support.
Journalist Loveena Tandon described receiving a “distress call” from someone on the flight who said that babies were running out of nappies. Photographs posted by Tandon show angry crowds surrounding a man in a police uniform.
Those accounts of events matched that of passenger Hanuman Dass on X, who wrote: “My family along with 250+ passengers have been inhumanely treated by @virginatlantic. It’s now been 30 hours since @VirginAtlantic flight left London and we are appalled at the lack of humanity and treatment of #Indian and #British citizens. My wife and kids have one pillow between 3 people and no blankets and have been sat in a confined space with 300 people.”
My family along with 250+ passengers have been inhumanely treated by @virginatlantic .
— Hanuman Dass (@HanumanDassGD) April 3, 2025
Why is this chaos not being covered in the @BBCWorld or global media?? Over 30 hours confined at a military airport in Turkey.
In contact with the @ukinturkiye to please more pressure needed pic.twitter.com/TIIHgE07bb
Visa issues for Indian passengers
Diyarkabir is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Türkiye and its airport is a military airbase as well as a regional public-facing facility. Online reviews describe the airport as “old and small” with an “insufficient waiting area.” Some travellers say they have experienced issues with authorities there accusing them of participating in fighting in Syria, whose border is about three hours away.
None of the @VirginAtlantic staff have communicated with 300 passengers. They are being held against their will. False messages, no accommodation, babies, women with children and elderly all neglected. @richardbranson we need some accountability. @Keir_Starmer @narendramodi
— Hanuman Dass (@HanumanDassGD) April 3, 2025
The Indian Embassy in Istanbul said in a statement it had liaised with Turkish immigration to ensure all 99 Indian passengers on board were issued with temporary visas, which meant they could access “Hotel accommodation, meals & medical assistance.”
Although Virgin claimed “we will keep all customers informed as soon as new updates become available,” passengers complained that they were left without information for hours. The onward flight to Mumbai eventually left Diyarkabir at 1:00 pm local time on Friday 4 April, landing just before 9:00 pm there. Virgin said in a response to Tandon on X that customers had been provided with details on how to claim compensation for the experience.
