A technical fault on an Air Malta plane caused delays that left frustrated passengers fuming that they had not been given adequate explanations.

Confusion reigned after Air Malta decided to merge Rome-bound flight KM612 with flight KM628, which should have gone directly to Milan.

Passengers were informed of the changes on check-in but were not given any explanations.

Passengers flying to Milan had to wait for two-and-a-half hours at Fiumicino in Rome.

They were first asked to remain on board, then told to disembark and then instructed again not to disembark.

As refuelling was needed, they were eventually asked to leave the plane and arrived in Milan three-and-a-half hours behind schedule.

The passengers waiting in Rome to take flight KM613 to Malta were asked to board the same aircraft and were flown north to Milan before being flown back southwards to Malta. This meant a five-hour long delay.

KM146 to Manchester was delayed by seven hours.

“This is an utter disgrace,” Marion Zammit, booked on KM613, told Times of Malta.

“The problem wasn’t the delay but the utter lack of communication. We were told that we were being re-routed to Milan just as we were buckling our seatbelts and about to take off.

“We were given no option whatsoever. I, for one, would have cancelled or postponed my flight.”

She added that officially the problem was attributed to “operational reasons” adding that the only reply given to passengers at the time was to file a complaint by sending an email to the airline.

Some passengers were accompanied by young children.

A passenger was meant to be delivering a paper at a conference in Gozo at 4pm when the plane was still preparing to take off.

“The confusion and sheer lack of passenger consideration gave Malta such a bad name. The plane was full of foreigners and many openly vowed they would never use our airline again.”

A spokesman from Air Malta apologised for the lack of communication, saying that the Italian handling agents should have alerted passengers about the changes during check-in at Fiumicino airport.

He said the flights were combined in an attempt to prevent even longer delays after one of the planes had to be urgently serviced due to a technical fault, leaving the airline with one aircraft short.