People on a 3-hour flight to Japan ended up on a 11-hour roundtrip ordeal after their plane circled over the destination airport, landed in another city, then missed a 10 p.m. curfew

07.09.2023 - 04:19 / insider.com

Passengers on a three-hour flight from Manila to Fukuoka had to endure an 11-hour roundtrip journey after a series of unfortunate hiccups on the way to their destination.

The flight, run by low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific Air, was carrying 125 passengers to Fukuoka Airport after departing Manila on Monday, per the Japanese daily The Mainichi.

Tracking data on Flightradar24 shows that flight 5J9 22 took off from Manila at around 3:15 p.m. local time.

The plane was due to land around three hours later in Fukuoka, which is an hour ahead of Manila, according to The Mainichi.

But local airspace was so crowded that they were told to circle the airport and try again, according to the outlet, citing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism's Fukuoka office.

Due to concerns about the plane's fuel running out, Cebu Pacific Air's flight diverted to an airport in Kitakyushu, a city about 37 miles away, according to The Mainichi. 

Flight data shows 5J 922 looping over Fukuoka several times before eventually diverting to Kitakyushu Airport, where it landed at around 8.30 p.m. local time.

However, passengers were unable to disembark at Kitakyushu due to issues with customs procedures, The Mainichi reported.

Soon after, pilots realized they couldn't make it back to Fukuoka on time because the airport there closes at 10 p.m., according to the news outlet. The Fukuoka Airport enforces a flight curfew between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., since it's located next to residential areas, and authorities are concerned about the noise from take-offs and arrivals.

CEB923 ended up leaving Kitakyushu Airport at around 12:15 a.m. local time that evening for Manila, flight data shows. By then, passengers and crew had already been stuck in the plane for close to eight hours.

Tracking data shows the flight landed at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport around three hours later. This meant the three-hour flight had turned into an 11-hour ordeal, and the passengers didn't even get to their destination.

A passenger who took a video on the flight told Japanese TV channel IT! that they were too desperate and exhausted to react by the time they landed back in Manila.

"This is my first experience. I just arrived in Japan, but I'm flying to Manila again," they told the outlet.

In a statement to Insider, Cebu Pacific Air confirmed that flight 5J 922 had to return to Manila after diverting to Kitakyushu on Monday evening.

When the passengers arrived back in Manila, the carrier provided them with hotel accommodation, meals, and a one roundtrip voucher to any international short-haul destination, per the statement.

"They were also offered flexible options including rebooking their flight for free, storing the cost of their flight