Passengers flying from Guangzhou to Hangzhou on the China Eastern Airlines MU 5216 flight claimed that they were cheated by the airline when they landed in Hangzhou on Saturday about 10 hours late, according to a Guangzhou Daily report.

A man surnamed Zhang said that the airline had promised to give each passenger as compensation a coupon worth 400 yuan (US$49.45) as well as free transportation to downtown Hangzhou and free accommodation upon arrival.

The passengers were stranded in Guangzhou airport for more than 10 hours Friday afternoon. "We demanded an explanation from the company, but it was in vain; a man surnamed Deng said he couldn't come over because he hadn't had his dinner," Zhang said.

The passengers were later moved into two hotels after negotiations.

They started checking in at 8 PM on Friday, but had to wait at the boarding area for more than 2 hours.

The company said the flight was delayed because of fog in Shanxi and the company's Guangzhou airport chief surnamed Liu apologized and agreed to compensate each passenger.

They finally took off at 1 AM Saturday, the passengers very much angry and fatigued, but were refused compensation because the Hangzhou authorities hadn't received any "notice" from Guangzhou.

The passengers tried to contact Liu, but he had apparently switched his phone off. 

Liu later explained that some angry passengers tore up the apology letters.

He said he had faxed Hangzhou about the passengers, but he didn't promise free accommodation because the hotels in Hangzhou had been booked for a meeting.

(Shenzhen Daily October 24, 2005)