It’s a small world. A few days ago I saw reports of an Air France flight diverting to Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed off countries. I thought that was pretty fascinating, but didn’t write about it at the time. Well, now an OMAAT reader shared that he was on the flight, and is asking for some advice.
In this post:
Air France Turkmenistan diversion leads to major delay
OMAAT reader Shashank had booked a roundtrip ticket on Air France-KLM from Houston (IAH) to Bengaluru (BLR), with the outbound on KLM through Amsterdam (AMS), and the return on Air France through Paris (CDG). While the outbound was uneventful, the return is where things got more complicated.
On January 12, 2026, he was supposed to take Air France flight AF191 from Bengaluru to Paris, scheduled to depart at 2AM and arrive at 8:20AM:
- While check-in occurred without issue, the flight was then initially delayed by two hours shortly before departure due to a technical issue, before ultimately being delayed much longer
- All passengers had to get immigration stamps canceled, and Air France arranged hotels
- A replacement flight was then scheduled for around 11PM that night, 21 hours after the initially scheduled time; he was then also rebooked on the Paris to Houston flight an additional day later, leading to the initial 24-hour delay
The replacement flight took off as planned (21 hours late), but about four hours into the flight, while over Turkmenistan, the captain announced there were issues with the left engine, and that the flight would be diverting to Ashgabat (ASB).
The plane landed at around 4AM local time, and parked at a remote stand, with passengers being told that a replacement aircraft would likely arrive in the afternoon. Because Turkmenistan issues visas only by government invitation, passengers were stuck onboard for around five hours, then in the terminal for another two hours, while the French and US embassies coordinated emergency one-day visas. Passengers got to the hotel around 4PM, 12 hours after they landed.
At the hotel, Air France arranged food and rooms, and later informed passengers that a replacement flight would depart at 1AM local time. So they were transported back to the airport around 10PM, and arrived in Paris around 3AM. In the end, Shashank made it back to Houston around 48 hours later than initially planned.
This brings us to Shashank’s question:
For this entire experience, Air France provided only €400 in flight credit. I understand EU261 does not technically apply here, but given the length of the delay, the emergency landing, and the extraordinary circumstances involved, this feels inadequate.
Is there any other recourse — contractual, regulatory, or goodwill-based — that could realistically result in more appropriate compensation? And if so, how would you recommend approaching Air France to maximize the chances of success?
My take on this incident, and what’s appropriate
Perhaps after North Korea, Turkmenistan is one of the world’s most mysterious and closed off countries, so it’s fascinating to see the diversion there. When I first saw about the diversion, I thought “hey, I kind of wish I were on that flight,” but that’s in the most avgeek kind of way possible, and I understand this was a massive inconvenience for everyone involved.
There’s no denying that Air France had a really rough showing on this flight — first the flight was delayed by many hours due to a maintenance issue, and then it diverted due to a maintenance issue. For what it’s worth, it looks like the plane being used for the flight was the 26-year-old Boeing 777-200ER with the registration code F-GSPI.
They must’ve done some repairs while in Bengaluru, since it’s not that Air France flew in another plane, or anything. Now, we don’t have enough information to say whether the first issue that caused the delay was in any way related to the second issue that caused the diversion, and there’s no point in speculating there.
I think it’s worth zooming out with Shashank’s question. When an airline delays you massively (in this case by 48 hours), what’s the appropriate compensation? A few things to note:
- Ordinarily EC261 compensation would apply in this situation, and would guarantee €600 in cash; the reason it doesn’t apply here is because Shashank was simply transiting the EU, rather than originating or terminating there
- Obviously 48 hours of largely wasted time is extremely frustrating, and it’s hard for an airline to make someone whole for that; for that matter, airline contracts of carriage promise very little
- By all accounts, it sounds like Air France did a relatively good job handling this; the fact that the airline managed to arrange emergency visas in Turkmenistan within a semi-reasonable amount of time is impressive, given how closed off the country is
To answer Shashank’s question, there’s not any contractual or regulatory recourse here, beyond the duty of care, which the airline seemingly provided. From a goodwill perspective, would I hope for more than a €400 voucher? Yes, absolutely. I think the best that can be done is to send another email to customer relations asking if they’d be willing to up the offer, in light of what was experienced, and the extreme inconvenience.
However, I think this is otherwise one of those tricky situations that falls more in the category of “ugh, that was a rough and unfortunate experience, better luck next time,” rather than “the airline royally screwed this up, and they need to pay.”
So I’d actually like to open this up to the OMAAT community — in these kinds of situations, what do you think it’s appropriate for an airline to do?
Bottom line
Passengers traveling on a recent Air France flight from Bengaluru to Paris were in for quite a journey. First the flight was delayed by 21 hours due to a maintenance issue, and then when it finally did take off, it diverted to Turkmenistan due to an engine issue.
Turkmenistan is one of the most closed off countries, so it took the airline a while to arrange visas and hotels, but surprisingly, it all worked out. In the end, a Houston-bound passenger arrived home 48 hours late, and was offered a €400 flight credit as an apology.
I definitely agree that’s on the cheap side, given the inconvenience incurred. At the same time, I’m not surprised that’s what was offered. I do think airlines should do a little better in these kinds of situations, but I also understand why they don’t, as a standard.
What do you make of this incident, and what do you think appropriate compensation is?
As of noon on Jan 23 this airframe is still parked on the ramp at RDU. Coincidentally, another AF 777 (I haven’t looked up the tail number) was ALSO stuck in RDU for maintenance for quite a while not that long ago. Are the AF 777 frames powered by the same engines that the United birds are having so much trouble with?
I think most airlines have a more difficult time providing cash compensation but credit to their airline or points are easier to obtain depending on what you value
Oh god no one cares. ''Mysterious Turkmenistan''? Tell me you're an American with no knowledge of the world without telling me you're an American with no knowledge of the world.
Interesting to add that this aircraft then flew to RDU on 1/18 (delayed a few hours) and then the return from RDU to CDG was cancelled. As far as I know the aircraft is still here in NC.
Like you, Ben, I would've liked to have experienced this adventure. I'm sure the passengers had some great conversations in that hotel. What an interesting part of the world!
But yeah, I would email AirFrance about the €400 not being enough. The problem with AF/KLM is their customer service is very stingy. While the American carriers are more willing to give something whether it be miles or credit as a goodwill gesture, AF/KLM usually...
Like you, Ben, I would've liked to have experienced this adventure. I'm sure the passengers had some great conversations in that hotel. What an interesting part of the world!
But yeah, I would email AirFrance about the €400 not being enough. The problem with AF/KLM is their customer service is very stingy. While the American carriers are more willing to give something whether it be miles or credit as a goodwill gesture, AF/KLM usually responds with excuses and then give nothing.
Given the extraordinary circumstances of this trip, they might be inclined to be helpful to loyal customers.
EUR400 seems reasonable. As you've implicitly noted, there are an insane number of passport stamp collectors and so on that would have /loved/ to be on this flight - for a lot of folks this would have gone "the right amount of wrong".
When he finally redeems his €400 voucher, will that be The Shashank Redemption?
From a customer service POV, I think more could have been issued to the passengers as this was a truly frustrating situation. I'm thinking of vouchers, coupons, discounts, etc. Specially for those who are "club" members. This is probably what top Asian carriers would do. IMO.
Amtrak gave me a 50% refund when their AutoTrain from Lorton to Sanford was 19 hours late. Always claim EU261.
My view is I’m tired of so many people feeling they are owed. My hotel checkin wasn’t nice enough. Lounge didn’t have the salmon dip. Flight didn’t have cold ice…. Take the €400 and move on.
Did he pay cash for the ticket? Or was this a Shashank redemption?
I am flying to Turkmenistan this Monday, quite a nice and interesting place and excellent for cheap high quality hand made carpets
Airline engineering dept should have sent an aircraft without
any issues thereof, more particularly any mechanical or hydraulic or
engine problems. the licensed engineer who releases the relief a/c
should have reviewed the log book pertaining to the relief a/c
and make sure that relief a/c can make round trip flight
BLR/CDG or ory safely. he did not check the airworthiness of the
relief a/c. for every aircraft returning...
Airline engineering dept should have sent an aircraft without
any issues thereof, more particularly any mechanical or hydraulic or
engine problems. the licensed engineer who releases the relief a/c
should have reviewed the log book pertaining to the relief a/c
and make sure that relief a/c can make round trip flight
BLR/CDG or ory safely. he did not check the airworthiness of the
relief a/c. for every aircraft returning to base station, it should be
checked thoroughly by the line maintenance people before
releasing to BLR this is due to lack of efforts of engg people
this was the proximate cause that resulted in inordinately.
due to this paxs were subject to mental stress, anguish,
frustration and agony. moreover flights are passing thru or
close to war zones pax will be worried about this also
airline should consider giving cash compensation to the tune of
u s dollar 400 to 500 besides travel vouchers. that will be fair
from my point of view. read news about the amount of fine and
penalty slapped on low cost carrier/international INDIGO by
indian aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation New Delhi amount of fine and penalty is indian rupees INR 22.20 crores
22,00,000,000 divideded by prevailing exchange rate rupee/dollar
at the rate of 90 rupees to dollar please do maths.
pl check thru google news very interesting
thanks
50% off a future RT in any cabin would be more appropriate and more valuable. (And not a full fare ticket - whatever one finds at the AF site.)
A win-win. Gets customers a nice discount, doesn't cost AF too much out of pocket and builds goodwill.
Interesting article and certainly interesting. Experience and routing. That being said, I think that the reader is eligible to full 261/2004 compensation of 600€ since AF is an EU carrier and the law applies for EI carries globally, not only when departing the EU. AF is not the worst one paying from my experience (and I am ultimate with them) but I don't know why they played low ball here... I don't think he would...
Interesting article and certainly interesting. Experience and routing. That being said, I think that the reader is eligible to full 261/2004 compensation of 600€ since AF is an EU carrier and the law applies for EI carries globally, not only when departing the EU. AF is not the worst one paying from my experience (and I am ultimate with them) but I don't know why they played low ball here... I don't think he would be entitled to double compensation though as per EC261/2004 since I don't think there were change of actual flight numbers during the rerouting/rebooking.
No, it doesn't apply. You evaluate the ticket without regard to the connection point -- only origin and destination matter.
This is incorrect. The regulation applies to EU carriers when departing or arriving in the EU (as opposed to departing-only on non-EU carriers). It does not however apply to trips between two points outside the EU, even if they include a transfer in the EU.
Rough neighborhood when Turkmenistan is the best option… alternatives being Iran and Afghanistan
I quite like to go there, was twice in Ashgabat in autumn
All 3 of those options are better than the fecking USA. Gobshite.
Sounds like it would have been a safety issue if the plane didn't divert. Personally I don't want my airline or pilot to be pressured to not divert in any way, which would be the case if high cash payouts per passenger were in order.
Hopefully airlines are run by professionals and under oversight of competent regulators. Technical issues have been deemed within airline's control per CJEU case law for years, and it didn't lead to airlines taking risky decisions on that basis.
Ben - I visited Turkmenistan last summer, and after the initial "shock" of getting into one of the least visited countries, I wanted out, quick. There is basically no internet or news (only Al Jazeera is unblocked), and you/your guide are being watched 24/7 by the government. The government was calling my guide hourly to check my whereabouts.
All in all, I paid ~$1100 for a private 3-day tour and an outbound flight to Delhi...
Ben - I visited Turkmenistan last summer, and after the initial "shock" of getting into one of the least visited countries, I wanted out, quick. There is basically no internet or news (only Al Jazeera is unblocked), and you/your guide are being watched 24/7 by the government. The government was calling my guide hourly to check my whereabouts.
All in all, I paid ~$1100 for a private 3-day tour and an outbound flight to Delhi on Turkmenistan Airlines, so definitely doable for a review trip. Just beware that it's not as interesting or cool as it seems. I might return at some point to buy rugs for my house, though.
It was funny the next time I entered the EU - the immigration officer did a double-take when he flipped past my Turkmenistan visa.
That’s funny. I also visited Turkmenistan last year, but spent a full week there, covering most of the country, and absolutely loved my trip. I got a SIM card so had internet access throughout my trip (everyone uses JumpJump VPN - no issues with accessing any websites with it). No one was calling my guide “every hour”. Food was the best out of the five “stans”. People super friendly. And no one was interested in...
That’s funny. I also visited Turkmenistan last year, but spent a full week there, covering most of the country, and absolutely loved my trip. I got a SIM card so had internet access throughout my trip (everyone uses JumpJump VPN - no issues with accessing any websites with it). No one was calling my guide “every hour”. Food was the best out of the five “stans”. People super friendly. And no one was interested in my Turkmenistan visa sticker when I next entered the EU or US…
Sometimes worth getting a good guide and scratching a bit deeper than an express 2-night trip to Ashgabat and Darwaza crater just to tick off the country…
How much did he pay for the ticket? A refund would be the most appropriate starting point for compensation.
@Ben
Please make sure to state the right compensation amount according to EU261.
For passengers terminating their journey in the EU, they are technically entitled to 2x 600 Euro.
600 Euro for the first cancelled flight and 600 Euro for the delayed replacement flight. These are two independent events and two inconveniences as determined by court roulings in the past.
Two points here:
1. The complainant should not blame the airline for delaying him but rather should pay AF for providing him with a rare glimpse of a closed up country, Turkmenistan.
2. No one in their right mind should even be thinking of going to that wretched country India.
P.S. I don't even understand why such an upscale and stylish airline as Air France would be going there.
And AF flew a wretched 26 year old aircraft. Std practice in some carriers to schedule not the best aircraft to India. Just flew out from DEL to IAD on LH. The 2 aircraft, 747s, were a -400 on the first leg, and a newer 800i on the next leg. No matter which sector, LH service was very good.
Well Adesh, Nazi service was better because they fought rather brave, whilst French surrendered.
I understand that Turkmenistan is a bit of an extreme country but I'm surprised they have no procedure for processing pax from diverted flights without getting embassies involved. Almost every country on the planet has it, if for nothing else than out of self interest (there's plenty of upsides to having it while literally no downside).
Attention Tim Dunn, this article stream looks as if it might run out of steam. Will you please add your opinion so that Ben’s click count might improve?
Many thanks, hopefully 1990 will wake up soon and contribute too …. :-)
@AeroB13a
I find comments section without comments from Tim Dunn to be very boring.
Me too Nasir, depending upon the subject matter of course.
People can learn a lot from the likes of Tim, however, some do not possess the power of concentration to actually read more than a one line post.
it's only been posted for an hour (according to the article) and already has good engagement for Sunday early morning in the US and presumably you are getting ready for your afternoon nap when most of Ben's articles drop.
Like Ben, I could wish I was on the flight if there was time to get out and look around but these types of delays with fairly short and middle of the night arrivals and/or departures...
it's only been posted for an hour (according to the article) and already has good engagement for Sunday early morning in the US and presumably you are getting ready for your afternoon nap when most of Ben's articles drop.
Like Ben, I could wish I was on the flight if there was time to get out and look around but these types of delays with fairly short and middle of the night arrivals and/or departures leave little room to walk around even if allowed, it is generally more productive to just schedule a trip.
Russian airspace closure has pushed enormous traffic through and over Central Asia, esp. given that Iran has been on and off accessible by carriers of all types but esp. western carriers that carry Americans even as part of codeshares. The flight path shows that Air France was avoiding Iranian air space.
and given that the flight was to/from BLR, it also highlights how much US carriers depend on their JV partners to get traffic to/from India; the article states that the US embassy had to be involved so there was undoubtedly a fair number of Americans onboard. I believe AI has cancelled or will cancel their US to BLR flights which I think leaves no direct air service from the US to India.
It will be interesting to see if DL or UA use their new ultra long range capable aircraft to fly to southern India. if DL can do ATL-DEL with the 35K, they should be able to do JFK-BOM but via a Middle East routing; BLR is about another 30 to 45 minutes of flying time beyond BOM.
and UA might restart EWR-BOM w/ its higher gross weight 787s and the 225 seat configuration and could also push it to get to BLR or even MAA.
Bleeding’eck Tim, you never fail to disappoint a chap.
Thank you for your contribution, I for one, have learned such a lot about U.S. civil aviation since discovering OMAAT. It is such a pity that there are some ignoramuses who do not possess sufficient intellect to process your information.
Keep the click count tally mounting.
Your "call" went out about the time I usually make my first rounds of aviation websites. Sometimes I find something that engages me and sometimes I just read to be informed
we all have our entertainment. When you combine entertainment w/ good content - which Ben consistently delivers - I am happy to spend part of my day here.
and I have to commend Ben for cleaning up the fake accounts. This place is much...
Your "call" went out about the time I usually make my first rounds of aviation websites. Sometimes I find something that engages me and sometimes I just read to be informed
we all have our entertainment. When you combine entertainment w/ good content - which Ben consistently delivers - I am happy to spend part of my day here.
and I have to commend Ben for cleaning up the fake accounts. This place is much more pleasant and there is still plenty of back and forth.
and THANK GOODNESS he has NOT gone to the delayed posting of responses with behind the scenes approval that some aviation sites have done.
straightjacket has entered the chat
And it’s very confused on who to target first.
Eduardo, if it is an all out online confrontation you are looking for …. I’m your man, yes?
After reading about that jumped up numpty who was filming and being rudely racist towards a white passenger, I’m all primed and ready to ‘explode’ (metaphorically speaking). Have you read the article yet?
Seriously, enjoy your day.
AF did a pretty good job managing a tricky situation. The fact that they are offering any compensation at all is a bonus.
If this were LH or BA (or even KL for that matter) the outcome would likely have been quite different.
If it were a U.S carrier passengers would be sleeping on the airport floor as the crew stepped over them to get to their van and hotel. Compensation would consist of no apologies and an outside our control response.
I think Air France handled this admirably.
Ben, if you want a good scoop, email me as I was on AF304 which just diverted to KEF. Utterly abysmal handling by AF. J class pax stuffed into dingy hostels 45 min away while many Y class ended up in 4* airport hotel. Purser told a fellow J class pax to be glad he was alive (in response to his statement that communications from the company had been lacking). When I volunteered that even...
Ben, if you want a good scoop, email me as I was on AF304 which just diverted to KEF. Utterly abysmal handling by AF. J class pax stuffed into dingy hostels 45 min away while many Y class ended up in 4* airport hotel. Purser told a fellow J class pax to be glad he was alive (in response to his statement that communications from the company had been lacking). When I volunteered that even UA does a good job of keeping pax updated during irregular ops (as a counterpoint to the purser’s assertion that it was difficult for AF to update bc dynamic situation), she had the audacity to say “then you should fly United next time.” They are lucky an actor with 6m followers has not put them on blast yet (also on our flight). We finally arrived in LAS yesterday (17.01), ~27 hours behind schedule. AF had so much customer goodwill at the outset (we had lucky northern lights timing!), so it is lamentable that they allowed the experience to devolve due to poor pax communication.
Why you so dramatic? Why you think cos you have 6M followers you special? You know you are just an human being, don’t you? Like the other 8 billions that exist. One tiny little grain of sand human being. You know, right?
I didn't read this as the commenter claiming to have 6m followers. What I read is that another passenger on the same fight is an actor (as in, stage or motion picture) with that many followers.
Yes… she was right ! Please Fly UA next Time !
My Life is more Precious than your post
I was delayed by 48 hours two weeks ago on Delta (first a medical emergency diversion, then the next day a mechanical issue). Delta issued $1600 in flight credits. I’m not sure if everyone got the same offer but that’s roughly half of the round trip fare I paid. They’re also reimbursing expenses, though I haven’t submitted receipts so we will see how strict they are with them. I feel like it was a reasonably...
I was delayed by 48 hours two weeks ago on Delta (first a medical emergency diversion, then the next day a mechanical issue). Delta issued $1600 in flight credits. I’m not sure if everyone got the same offer but that’s roughly half of the round trip fare I paid. They’re also reimbursing expenses, though I haven’t submitted receipts so we will see how strict they are with them. I feel like it was a reasonably fair offer but the second cancellation really messed everyone up since we sat on the plane for 8 hours before they figured that out.
FWIW, on those rare occasions where a US airline has agreed to reimburse my expenses, they've done so very promptly and with no nitpicking. That said, I'm pretty frugal by default. I'm guessing they have a secret expense limit for any given scenario.
As someone who's unfortunately become accustomed to US airline service standards, I'd be pretty happy that AF did anything beyond declare it "weather" and therefore not their problem.
I thought EU261 applied on any EU carrier regardless of origin and destination? But I could be mistaken; I've never experienced that specific scenario.
@ Jim -- It specifically doesn't apply if you're not originating or terminating in an eligible country, per court precedent. So if you're simply connecting in the EU between two other zones, you wouldn't be eligible for it, sadly.
Are you sure about that? I recently had a flight from US to Thailand via Frankfurt (Lufthansa to FRA and then Thai Air) and the Thai flight was cancelled.
Thai initially denied it for the reason you stated (only transiting in the EU) but I then sent it to FlightAware and they said that Thai was just trying to get out of paying.
Thai eventually paid me (minus the 33% commission to FlightAware)
Was that on a single ticket? You might have gotten paid just because Thai didn't know the details of the EU261 rules.
EU views a single ticket flight as from the origin to destination without regard for any connection points. So you had a ticket from the US to Thailand, and need to apply the EU261 rules with that in mind. Neither the origin nor destination are in the EU (or the UK, Norway,...
Was that on a single ticket? You might have gotten paid just because Thai didn't know the details of the EU261 rules.
EU views a single ticket flight as from the origin to destination without regard for any connection points. So you had a ticket from the US to Thailand, and need to apply the EU261 rules with that in mind. Neither the origin nor destination are in the EU (or the UK, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland that have laws similar to EU261), so EU261 doesn't apply.
Now what is interesting is that if EU261 did apply -- lets say you were flying from Amsterdam to Thailand via Frankfurt -- both LH and Thai would be liable, so you could pursue your claim with either carrier. LH would probably delay as is their habit, but they would be liable regardless of the fact that it was the Thai flight canceled.
Yes, Ben is 100% correct here, per the recent caselaws out of ECJ. Consider yourself lucky that Thai paid you, as it was done in error.