CARIBBEAN Airlines Ltd (CAL) has apologised to passengers who were left stranded at an airport in Puerto Rico between Monday and Tuesday, after the flight they were on had to be diverted to that country due to a medical emergency on board.

Newsday reported that over 100 passengers were stranded at the Luis Munox Marin airport with no food or water for over 18 hours as they awaited word on when they fly home to Trinidad. The passenger slept on chairs, on top of their luggage and in some cases, on the floor.

The state-owned airline company, in a press release issued at 3 am on Wednesday, said that all passengers whose flight was diverted to Puerto Rico, are now safely at their final destinations.

The airline "unreservedly apologised" to the passenger for the experience that resulted from the disruption. The release said it was CAL's intention to relief flight operate on the same day the diversion occurred, however, because of circumstances outside its control, the relief flight could not leave Puerto Rico as anticipated.

Puerto Rico is not a destination on Caribbean Airlines’ regular route network, the release pointed it.

"While support systems were in place on the island, several factors outside of the airline's authority made the operation less efficient than planned."

CAL confirmed that the relief flight landed at the Piarco International Airport at 2.26 am on Wednesday and that senior management personnel were on hand to meet the passengers who were all given letters of apology as they disembarked the aircraft.

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