Passengers Wait for Hours on Planes at Plovdiv Airport

Staff shortage at the airport of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, has caused passengers of two WizzAir flights had to wait for hours stranded on board.

Severe weather conditions in the capital Sofia, where the two flights, from Dubai and Valencia respectively, were to land, prompted traffic authorities to diver them to the airport of Bulgaria's second-largest city.

However, a recent switch of Plovdiv Airport from working around the clock to shifts until 22:00 made it impossible for either passengers or crew to leave the plane.

Earlier in November, some 50 employees of the airport were dismissed in an attempt to cut costs.

"We landed in a dark field, as if we were in Congo," NOVA TV quotes a passenger as saying.