A Chennai-bound IndiGo flight from Bengaluru left six passengers stranded at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Sunday night over what passengers alleged was the airline’s unwillingness to travel to the destination with only six passengers on board.
The passengers claimed that they were “tricked” into de-boarding the aircraft by the airline staff, who did not want to fly to Chennai with only six on board. The incident occurred at around 9.30 pm after the flight landed at Bengaluru for a scheduled stopover.
The passengers were asked to get off the plane for security reasons and were told that they would be accommodated on another flight. However, they later found out that there was no other flight to Chennai that night and they had to spend the night at the airport, reported Times of India.
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“Six passengers, including I, were seated in the plane on the Bengaluru tarmac when I received a call on my mobile phone from an IndiGo ground crew member asking me to get off the flight as he was waiting for me inside the airport with my boarding pass for another flight, ready to depart to Chennai,” said one of the passenger while stating that the other five also received similar phone calls and frantically got off the plane, the report said.
The passengers alleged that they were misled by the airline staff and that their luggage was also taken off the plane without their consent. They also said that they were not offered any compensation or alternative arrangements by the airline. They filed a complaint with the airport authorities and demanded an apology from IndiGo.
IndiGo denied the accusations and said the passengers could not board their flight due to “lack of time’’. In a statement released on Tuesday, the airline also apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passengers adding that the IndiGo ground staff made every possible effort to help passengers.
"Flight 6E 478 was operating from Amritsar to Chennai via Bengaluru with eight transit passengers on board. Due to the delay of the incoming aircraft from Amritsar, these passengers were unable to board the onward flight to Chennai at the Bengaluru Airport," read the statement by IndiGo.
The airline also denied the allegation that the passengers were not offered any compensation or alternative arrangements by the airline.
“IndiGo staff offered the passengers overnight accommodation and booking on the next available flight but certain passengers chose to stay at the airport lounge.” the IndiGo statement read.