Mumbai-bound Virgin Atlantic flight stuck in Turkey for 2 days - How visa laws work in such scenarios
Over 250 passengers on a London-Mumbai Virgin Atlantic flight, many of them Indian nationals, have been stranded at Turkey's Diyarbakir Airport for more than 40 hours. Flight VS358 from London to Mumbai on April 2 was cancelled due to a "medical urgency".
Mumbai: Several Indians are among the 250 passengers of a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Mumbai who are now stranded in Turkey after the plane made an unscheduled detour following an "urgent medical diversion". Flight VS358 was diverted to the Diyarbakir airport and suffered a technical glitch upon landing on Wednesday and is now under inspection.
However, that was two days ago; the passengers are still waiting to be flown to Mumbai, while the airline awaits necessary approvals for the flight to take off again. As per the latest information from Virgin Atlantic, the passengers were initially kept at the airport for hours and then shifted to hotels for the night while the journey is expected to resume at 12 noon (local time) today.
The Indian Embassy in Ankara has said it is continuously monitoring the situation.
What is the current status of the London-Mumbai flight diverted to Turkey?
"The safety and security of our customers and crew remains our highest priority, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. Subject to receiving the necessary technical approvals, we will continue flight VS1358 to Mumbai from Diyarbakir Airport at 12:00 local time on Friday 4th April," a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said.
If approvals are not received, we plan instead to provide a bus transfer for customers to an alternative aircraft at another Turkish airport tomorrow to complete our customers' journey to Mumbai," the airline said. "In the meantime, passengers are being provided with overnight hotel accommodation and refreshments in Turkey, while we work towards a resolution, and we will keep all customers informed as soon as new updates become available, the spokesperson said on Thursday night.
The incident sparked concerns among the passengers' families as any of them took to social media, slamming the airline for providing basic amenities in cold weather and making the wait for hours inside the aircraft after landing.
Visuals depicted passengers resting on airport seats, visibly exhausted and anxious due to the delay and uncertainty caused by the disruption.
My family along with 250+ passengers have been inhumanely treated by @virginatlantic .
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
— Hanuman Dass (@HanumanDassGD) April 3, 2025
What Turkey's immigration laws say for unexpected stays due to flight diversions
According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, If a flight is delayed, cancelled, or diverted in Turkey, and passengers you need to stay overnight, you will likely require a visa to leave the airport—unless your nationality permits visa-free entry for up to 90 days.
If your flight is delayed or diverted, requiring an overnight stay or airport exit, you may need a visa to enter Turkey, even if your original plan was just to transit.
If you remain inside the airport without passing through immigration, a transit visa may not be necessary.
Turkey does not offer visa on arrival for Indian passport holders and one has to obtain a visa to stay in the country.
However, an exception was made in this incident. Responding to a query by India TV on X, Virgin Atlantic said the authorities made an exception for the passengers to leave the airport temporarily.
"Airport authorities made an exception to allow passengers to leave the airport temporarily, we will keep all customers informed as soon as new updates become available," it said.
Hi Ashish, Airport authorities made an exception to allow passengers to leave the airport temporarily, we will keep all customers informed as soon as new updates become available. ^Luke
— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) April 4, 2025