As if fuel surcharges, baggage fees and having to pay for food on expensive flights wasn't bad enough, on Wednesday, passengers on board an Air France flight that got diverted from Beirut to Damascus were asked to help "chip in" to refuel the plane.

The reason for the diversion was tensions in Beirut. Unfortunately, the airline suspended flights to Damascus in March due to safety reasons.

Roland, a 23-year-old engineer on the flight, explained the flight got held up in Syria's capital because of the fuel dilemma. He told news.come.au, "There were some negotiations going on to buy fuel because Air France doesn't fly to Damascus at the moment and so it doesn't have an account with Damascus airport authorities."

According to an anonymous Air France employee, the crew at first tried to pay for the fuel in Damascus with a credit card; however, the transaction could not be completed because of financial sanctions, which have been imposed on Syria.

It is unclear how the issue was finally resolved.

[Image via Joe Jones]

Filed under: Europe, Syria, Airlines, News, Middle East