Saudia flight No. SV808 was scheduled to take off at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday from King Khaled International Airport and the passengers were issued boarding passes.

Saudia officials have not explained why the flight was canceled, but one of them at the airport said on condition of anonymity Thursday afternoon that the passengers might be able to depart late on Thursday or early Friday morning.

The passengers have been set up in area hotels, the official added. Passenger R. Mulla confirmed that hotel rooms had been provided despite the lack of information. 

“There was a lot of confusion because there was no information given either by the airline officials or the airport officials after we were transferred to the hotels,” said Mulla.

Shahidul Islam, whose wife and children were to board the same flight, said: “My wife got stranded and we are still uncertain about her departure to Dhaka ... I have received no reply from either the counter staff of Saudia or Saudia inquiry so far.”

Some of the passengers were heading home for the holidays. Eid Al-Adha takes place on Tuesday and the government holiday began Thursday. Many expat workers leave Wednesday night for their holiday visits home. Some passengers on the canceled flight have missed their connections from Dhaka to other destinations in Bangladesh and fear they may not make it home in time for Eid Al-Adha.

“The holiday seems so long now and I feel exhausted,” said stranded passenger S.F. Chaudhury.

Exhaustion was the flavor of the day for these passengers, who had already been in the dark with regard to their travel itinerary for over 12 hours when Arab News spoke to them.

“We were exhausted after a six-hour drive to reach Riyadh only to be left stranded for over 36 hours, we don't even know when we’ll get to fly out,” said another passenger who asked not to be named.