Snag delays India-bound flight

Passengers travelling to Thiruvananthapuram held up at Abu Dhabi airport for 21 hours

Adelayed Air India Express flight caused a lot of inconvenience to passengers flying from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram in the south Indian state of Kerala.

The flight scheduled to depart at 11.55pm on Friday was finally rescheduled to 9.10pm yesterday after a failed attempt to depart at 4.30pm due to continuous technical snags, according to a senior airline executive.

“Of the 156 passengers, we offered hotel accommodation to 136 passengers [as others had cancelled or rescheduled their bookings],” Ranjan Datta, manager, Air India Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, told Gulf News.

However, 36 of them could not come out of the airport as some of them had their residence visas already cancelled and others were on visit visas, according to an affected passenger.

“We had to spend the whole night without food and sleep at the airport. Some women and children suffered a lot,” he said.

However, Datta denied the allegations, saying food and all possible support were extended to the passengers held up at the airport. The passengers said 36 of them refused to leave the aircraft after the failed attempt to take off at 4.30pm on Friday. “We protested inside the aircraft and finally heeded to the request of the Abu Dhabi officials,” they said.

Datta said the delay was beyond the control of the airline. “It does happen in aviation. We don’t compromise on the safety and security of the passengers,” he said.

We had to spend the whole night without food and sleep at the airport. Some women and children suffered a lot.” A passenger