On August 1st, Xiangpeng Airlines flight 8L9663 experienced a significant delay, leading to multiple passengers being stranded. Several passengers took to social media to report that the meals provided by on-site staff were instant noodles that had expired nearly a month ago. This incident has sparked widespread attention.
According to online posts, on August 1st, flight 8L9663 from Urumqi, Xinjiang to Chengdu, Sichuan, operated by Xiangpeng Airlines, was delayed by over 4 hours before takeoff. During the delay, staff distributed expired instant noodles to passengers.
Footage from the scene shows multiple passengers standing at the boarding gate, with one passenger holding a box of cup noodles with a production date of January 4, 2026, and an expiration date of July 3, making it expired by nearly a month. Passengers returned the noodles to the staff on-site. Some passengers expressed their frustration, saying, “It expired on July 3rd, and you still gave it to us to eat.” A passenger even angrily threw the expired noodles, leading to chaos at the scene. Meanwhile, several passengers were seen discussing the issue of the expired noodles with the staff.
According to flight information, flight 8L9663 was initially scheduled to depart from Urumqi Diwopu International Airport at 8:45 p.m. on August 1st and arrive at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 12:10 a.m. on August 2nd. However, at 8:27 p.m. on the same day, the platform announced a schedule change, rescheduling the flight to depart at 11:55 p.m. and arrive at 4:05 a.m. the next day. The flight actually took off at 12:52 a.m. on August 2nd and landed at 3:45 a.m.
According to a report by the Xiaoxiang Morning Post, staff members defended the distribution of expired instant noodles by explaining that due to the flight delay, the airline immediately had ground service personnel provide meals. While admitting that some of the meals did not meet the standards, the airline stated that they are conducting a service investigation and offering each affected passenger a compensation of 200 yuan.
Some netizens criticized the compensation of 200 yuan as being too low, especially compared to a previous incident involving China Eastern Airlines, where passengers were compensated 1000 yuan each, making the standards differ by 5 times. Some passengers claimed they had not received the compensation and were not actively contacted by the airline, raising concerns that the solution has not been fully implemented.
On August 2nd, a passenger, Ms. Zhang, stated that she had not yet received the 200 yuan compensation and had not been contacted by the airline. Another passenger also mentioned not receiving any compensation as of yet.
Moreover, several passengers raised doubts about the reason for the delay – flights by Spring Airlines heading to the same destination at the same time were operating normally. The airline explained that differences exist due to weather conditions and aircraft type limitations on different routes.
Ms. Zhang recalled being informed while queuing for boarding that the flight was delayed until past midnight due to weather conditions, but she noted that the neighboring Spring Airlines flight heading to Chengdu had landed without issues, leading to confusion when the explanation shifted to air traffic control issues and staffing constraints.
Passengers also questioned how expired instant noodles made their way into the airport without a clear explanation until now. Ms. Zhang expressed her frustration, stating that “from start to finish, the airline has not come to resolve the situation.”
On August 2nd, staff from Xiangpeng Airlines responded to Nandu News, stating that the flight was delayed due to weather conditions, and the airline provided meals through the airport’s ground agents, where a few meals were found to be below the standards.