In photos: Virgin Atlantic passengers trapped at JFK because of weather

Plane was to take off at 6:30 pm, didn't return to gate until after midnight

Virgin Atlantic passengers were forced to hole up at JFK airport early Tuesday morning after waiting for six hours on the tarmac. Felix Kunze. (Felix Kunze)

On the day after Winter Storm Juno mostly eluded New York, many in the city are calling it “the storm that wasn’t”, but for dozens of Virgin Atlantic airline passengers, it most certainly is the storm that was.

Photos taken by Felix Kunze on Monday at John F. Kennedy International Airport documented the ordeal faced by passengers after their flight that was supposed to take off at 6:30pm on Monday sat on the tarmac for six hours before returning to the gate and leaving them stranded at the airport.

The plane returned to the gate past midnight on Tuesday, after having trouble de-icing and with a sick passenger. By the time people got off the plane they literally were trapped at the airport.

A travel ban took effect at 11pm on Monday in the New York area, outlawing cars from the road and halting all public transportation. Even if some of the passengers had somewhere to go for the night, they were unable to get there.

In an effort to try and appease passengers, Virgin Atlantic reportedly handed out $15 vouchers to be spent at McDonalds, the only restaurant that remained open at the airport.

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