HONG KONG – Oasis Hong Kong Airlines’ inaugural flight took off for London this afternoon, a full day after the original schedule.
Failure to obtain the necessary permit to fly over Russia left about 280 passengers all buckled up in a flight that never took off yesterday.
The passengers were in the plane for over five hours before they were made to disembark with the advice that the flight would take off today at 1 pm.
Oasis chair Raymond Lee last night said that the carrier was granted all the approvals and that all the paperwork was in order but “the inaugural flight has been delayed by Russian authorities for as yet unexplained reasons.”
If it was any consolation, the incident tested the carrier’s mettle under extreme pressure. A passenger interviewed by a local daily cited that the cabin crew was “very good humoured”.
Oasis is positioning itself in the market as a “long-haul, low-fare” airline. The promo rate for one-way Hong Kong – London service is being offered for HK$ 1,000 (US$129).