Russian tourists returning from holidays in Abkhazia have been stranded in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi for five days after their flight to Moscow was repeatedly postponed without explanation.
The passengers were originally scheduled to depart for the capital early in the morning on August 24. Instead of boarding their flight, travelers were accommodated in a local guest house and provided with a daily allowance of 1,000 roubles for food while awaiting news on their departure.
Flight operators initially rescheduled the departure for Thursday, August 27. However, one female passenger explained that only a portion of the travelers on their flight were taken to the airport that morning, while others remained stuck at the hotel after receiving a text message announcing a further delay.
The remaining tourists have now been promised a replacement flight on Saturday, August 29, according to Russian travel news outlet TourDom. The extended delay has caused significant disruption for the passengers, who were already due to return to their jobs in Moscow following their scheduled leave.
Transit hub challenges
Sochi, situated on the Black Sea coast near the border with Abkhazia, serves as the main transport entry point for Russian travelers visiting the resort region. Visitors frequently travel across the border by road before connecting to domestic flights at Sochi International Airport for the journey north to Moscow.
TourDom, a major travel news publication in Russia that reported the incident, frequently monitors passenger rights and airline operational delays affecting domestic and outbound Russian tourists.
Earlier flight delays
The situation in Sochi follows another recent travel disruption involving Russian tourists returning to Moscow. In that incident, passengers flying from the Egyptian resort city of Hurghada were forced to spend six hours waiting inside an aircraft on the tarmac after their plane was diverted to Chelyabinsk airport in the Ural region.
