Hundreds of KQ passengers have spent the night in a hotel near London’s Heathrow Airport after their flight to Nairobi was cancelled due to technical problems with the aircraft.

Flight KQ101’s departure due at 17:25 yesterday (UK time) from Heathrow Terminal 4 was halted after the passengers were already fully loaded on to the aircraft.

When the technical problem with the plane could not be sorted out, the passengers had to disembark, collect their luggage and were then transferred to a nearby Holiday Inn to stay the night.

This morning passengers have still not be told by KQ when they will get to fly home.

“Now I know what Purgatory is”, said one passenger.

Some passengers are reported to have transferred to a British Airways flight, but most remained stranded without news of when their ordeal will be over.