Mumbai: Passengers of an IndiGo flight from the city to Doha waited inside the aircraft for more than four hours on Sunday morning as it was delayed due to a technical issue.

After a delay of nearly 18 hours, the flight took off for the Qatar capital from Mumbai airport around 9:45 pm. It was originally scheduled to depart around 4 am, sources in the know said.

Passengers were inside the aircraft for more than four hours before they deplaned, the sources added. Some passengers took to social media to complain about the delay and their long wait.

In the morning, IndiGo said its flight 6E 1303, operating from Mumbai to Doha, was delayed due to a technical reason.

“The aircraft tried to depart for its destination a couple of times but had to finally be called off due to the extended time lag on account of various procedural delays,” the airline said in a statement.

While apologising for the inconvenience, IndiGo said its airport team immediately offered assistance to the affected customers and provided refreshments and necessary arrangements.

On Sunday morning, a passenger on X said the flight was stuck for four hours due to a technical problem and that the immigration authority was not giving permission to offload the passengers.

The airline also said passengers were being provided hotels and rebooked according to their final destination.