Goodness! So many diversions over the last 30 years, I could spend 10 hrs writing about them. But one event is memorable for all the wrong reasons - airlines can't control diversions when they are caused by bad weather but the effort they put into the recovery, is what stays with you forever.
This was back in 1980s when JU (JAT - Yugoslav Airlines) still existed. They had a very good worldwide network connecting through BEG - Belgrade. I picked up a good fare from LHR to SYD (transit in BEG, then via DXB and SIN as operational stops to SYD). This was just before Xmas and BEG was in a snowstorm, apparently known to the airline prior to leaving LHR, but they still took off.
Plane could not land at BEG (although take-offs were still happening from there, as I found out later). So, we diverted to ZAG - Zagreb, which is about 40-50 min flying time short of Belgrade. It was snowing in Zagreb and all I had on was a T-Shirt (heading for the seasonal heat of Australia, apparently).
Zagreb airport was literally bursting at the seams as all flights heading for Belgrade were landing there. One could not even move to exit the building, let alone get some assistance at a single service counter which would be serving thousands of diverted pax. In my naive state of mind, I though planes which could depart Belgrade would come to Zagreb to collect connecting pax and then continue towards their intended destination. Instead, they left Belgrade half empty and left thousands behind in Zagreb.
Eventually we were taken by buses to the Zagreb train station and continued overnight by slow passenger train (regular service, stopping in every village along the way). Arrived Belgrade in the morning of next day, still in the blizzard conditions, negotiated our way to the airport. Airline did not even provide free transport to the airport for us. With no local money in hand, I appealed to the bus driver to take me for free, which he did begrudgingly.
Once at the Belgrade airport, JU staff had not even opened service desks; they just sat behind glass partitions, sipping away at the freshly brewed coffee and bantering amongst themselves whilst hundreds of pax were queuing up and scratching at the glass for attention. This lasted some 45 minutes at which point they decided they would talk to the customers. They were surprised to learn we had arrived in Belgrade by train and could not understand why Zagreb didn't accommodate us at local hotels.
They said I would need to wait for three days in Belgrade for the next JU service to SYD, subject to availability. This is when I lost my mind and started to tell them how the things will go from here. I took on the role of a spokesperson for all SYD bound pax and secured us an evening flight from BEG (via SPU - Split) to FCO - Rome. From there we connected onto QF flight via ATH - Athens and SIN - Singapore, to SYD.
With confirmed tickets in our hands (these were still the times of paper tickets), we had to kill about 10 or 12 hrs before the evening departure to Rome. Due to bad weather, airport had no power, so we couldn't even have a hot coffee, forget a cooked meal. We drank warm beer instead and slept on the top of our bags to make up for the lost sleep from the night prior.
By the time we got to Rome, we were truly stuffed. Getting onto the QF plane was a welcome relief. Having left Europe full 24 hrs later than the original plan, we got to Australia just in time to celebrate Xmas. Understandably, this was my last trip with JU.
