At least 150 passengers were forced to deplane from a Nepal Airlines flight at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday after a catering truck hit the aircraft’s tail.

The Airbus A320 jet was scheduled to take off from the airport at 5pm (Nepal time) to Nepal.

According to the Post’s Hong Kong correspondent Nirmal Shrestha, the impact has created a tiny hole in the tail section of the aircraft. On-duty engineer of Nepal Airlines had identified the problem in the jet when it was set to move to the airport’s runway from the tarmac.

Ram Hari Sharma, spokesperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), said no one has been injured. “We have been informed the tail of the aircraft was hit by a catering truck.”

Sharma said the damage was being assessed. “All the details will be known after conducting the assessment,” he said, adding until then the aircraft would be grounded.

Passengers have been transferred to hotel or other flights, while the plane has been parked at Hong Kong airport for repairs.

The incident has occurred during the peak travel season when thousands of Nepali returns home from abroad to celebrate Dashain and Tihar festivals. Travel agencies have reported all most all airlines have sold out their inbound tickets to Nepal and as the flight has been grounded it could affect travellers.

“As we don’t know how long it would take to repair the aircraft, it could cause inconvenience for travellers. However, we will do our best to transfer passengers who had booked the flights to other airlines,” Sharma said.