Around 20 angry passengers have blocked a taxiway at Pudong Airport in a protest over compensation for their delayed flight. Authorities say Thursday's protest lasted only a few minutes and didn't affect airport operations.

Around 20 angry passengers have blocked a taxiway at Pudong Airport in a protest over compensation for their delayed flight.

The passengers had been on a Shenzhen Airlines flight from Shenzhen to Nanjing last night that was forced to land in Shanghai because of bad weather in Nanjing.

And last night's thunderstorm here meant they had to stay overnight. When an airport bus finally took them to their plane to continue their flight after a 16 hour delay, some were still so angry that they refused to board and rushed onto the taxiway.

Passengers said, "You couldn't leave; you couldn't fly; and you couldn't get a refund, all you could do was wait." A plane from the United Arab Emirates on that taxiway had to stop about 200 meters away because of the protest.

"This is horrible! It is a dangerous act itself, and it posed a threat to other people's safety. Safety should always come first."

Professor Liao Huijuan from Fudan University said, "This is an issue of public safety. We must see it this way. It's not only about discontent and money. These passengers must be stopped and punished."

But at the current stage, the passengers only get compensation instead of punishment. Shenzhen Airlines says it will pay 1,000 yuan compensation to each of the passengers whose flight to Nanjing finally left this afternoon.

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