Was this the worst Qantas flight ever? Passengers are left stranded without food and water… and your flight could be next

Qantas has been forced to apologise to customers again after yet another plane was grounded on the tarmac for several hours.

Passengers on Boeing 737 flight QF596 were left stranded at Gold Coast Airport without food or water after landing from Sydney at 8.30 pm on Tuesday night.

Travel-weary customers were told the flight had been grounded after its nose wheel steering was impacted by a fault in the aircraft’s hydraulic system.

One passenger claimed staff ‘ran out of water’ to serve customers. Instead, stewardesses were handing out glasses of white and red wine to soften the blow.

Up to 120 passengers waited for firefighters and specialist engineers to assess the issue before the aircraft had to be manually towed to the terminal.

One customer claimed they waited on the tarmac for five hours, however, a Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the delay was three hours.

‘Our Sydney to Gold Coast flight on Monday night was towed from the runway to the gate because of an issue with the aircraft’s nose wheel steering,’ they said.

‘We apologise for the inconvenience and would like to thank our customers for their patience while we organised for the aircraft to be manually towed.’

Passengers on Boeing 737 flight QF596 were left stranded at Gold Coast Airport with no food or water after landing from Sydney at 8.30pm on Tuesday night

Travel-weary customers were told the flight had been grounded after its steering was impacted by a fault in the aircraft’s hydraulic system

The major delay impacted nine additional flights, with seven diverted to Brisbane.

Two flights out of Gold Coast Airport were cancelled, while two more planes were diverted to land at Coolangatta late on Tuesday evening.

A Qantas spokesperson has apologised for the inconvenience to customers.

‘We apologise for the inconvenience and would like to thank our customers for their patience while we organised for the aircraft to be manually towed,’ they said.

It comes just days after the embattled airline was forced to apologise to passengers on Boeing 737 flight QF93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles after they waited for six hours on the tarmac before their flight was eventually cancelled.

The international flight was cancelled at 3am on Tuesday after it was decided the plane was too heavy to take off due to strong winds.

The doomed flight had already been delayed before customers boarded.

Qantas customer Caitley had already travelled five hours from regional NSW and didn’t arrive at her hotel for some much-needed rest until 6am.

‘We just wanted to get off. We were tired, there was no water, we weren’t even offered any food, we weren’t allowed to get out of our seats,’ she told 3AW radio.

Caitley said passengers grew more frustrated every hour they spent on the tarmac.

It comes just days after Qantas was forced to apologise to passengers on Boeing 737 flight QF93 after they waited for six hours on the tarmac before the flight was cancelled

The international flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles was cancelled at 3am on Tuesday after it was decided the plane was too heavy to take off due to strong winds

She waited at the airport for another hour before finally catching a taxi to a hotel in the city which were both paid for by Qantas.

‘We didn’t get to bed until six o’clock this morning,’ she said.

‘We left home at 11.30am yesterday morning so it’s been a big journey to only travel 500 kilometres.’

Another passenger, Pip, slammed Qantas for ‘never being on the front foot’.

‘This isn’t their first rodeo, they didn’t have any contingency plan and they’re never on the front foot,’ she said.

A Qantas spokesperson once again apologised for the delay. 

‘The aircraft arrived late in Melbourne following a weather-delayed departure from the UK and then faced further issues including runway works and bad weather which impacted take off,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Passengers were provided refreshments on board, but further refreshments were not possible once the plane was preparing to take off.

‘Qantas provided accommodation and transport for customers overnight and they will board a new flight Tuesday night.’