Passengers on an Air Malta flight from Munich had to disembark a plane moments before it was about to take off after aviation authorities stopped it from flying, people onboard told Times of Malta. 

Passengers said they had been “stuck” on the plane for some time before being told they had to get off. 

“We are not sure how we will get to our family for the weekend,” one passenger said, describing how aviation authorities boarded the plane and told the crew there were issues with the “inspection test”.

The plane, the passenger said, was not Air Malta but was a getjet.aero aircraft. 

“When we book with Air Malta it should be an Air Malta plane. That is why we pay more for our tickets,” the irked passenger went on.

In a reaction, an airline spokesman confirmed to Times of Malta that the leased aircraft operating the airline’s Munich-Malta flight on Friday, “was grounded in Munich this afternoon due to technical reason”.

“Due to the delay in the delivery of Air Malta’s brand new Airbus A320neo from the manufacturer, the airline leased aircraft to fulfil its busy summer schedule. 

“The airline's engineers, together with the operator, are doing their utmost to service the aircraft and return it to normal operations as soon as possible to minimise delays and inconveniences to these passengers,” the spokesman continued. 

Passengers have since been told to return to the information desks at around 4pm for further details.