Flyers Stranded in Airport for 10 Hours, BA News, BA

Moiz Salim Khan, his wife and their three-year-old child had a harrowing experience in the city airport on Tuesday evening because of a seven-and-a-half hours delay of SpiceJet’s Pune-Dubai flight.

Rohaan Salim Khan from the NIBM Road area, the brother of Moiz, told TOI that his sibling had reached the airport with his family around 5pm for the flight, scheduled to depart at 8pm. The plane, with close to 100 passengers on board, was air-borne at 3.30am on Wednesday.

Rohaan said, “When Moiz and his family members were set to get inside the airport, a text message came in that the flight would fly at 8.45pm instead of 8pm. We didn’t mind much because it was a delay of just 45 minutes, and my brother and his family proceeded to the terminal. Later, I got a call from them that the inbound flight was expected to arrive only at 10.30pm.”

Like Moiz and his family, many flyers spent over 10 hours in the city airport.
Another flyer said, “For a long time, we were not told the reason behind the flight’s delay. After some time, the second announcement was made that the inbound flight would arrive at 12am. The airline’s team said the Dubai flight’s delay was a domino effect. They told passengers to either take a refund and go home or wait. Soon, the entire team made a disappearing act.”An official statement from the airline about the inordinate delay of Tuesday’s Pune-Dubai flight was awaited till going to press. An official of the carrier, on the condition of anonymity, said the delay of a flight from Delhi to Pune (SG-8938) on Tuesday had delayed the Dubai-bound flight.

“It was a consequential delay. The same aircraft had to fly to Dubai once it landed in Pune,” the official said.

TOI had reported the delay of SpiceJet’s Delhi-Pune flight on Tuesday evening in its July 3, 2024 edition.

Rohaan said, “A third announcement was made stating that the inbound aircraft would reach Pune at 3am on Wednesday. Some flyers couldn’t take the frustration and decided to leave the airport after opting for a refund. My sister-in-law being pregnant, she faced many problems. So did her child. One of the staffers of the airline warned my brother against recording videos of the chaos and said their boarding passes would be cancelled.”

He said the airline served refreshments to flyers, but the food was not up to the mark. “According to my brother, it felt like leftovers because some were given rice and a few were served samosas.”

Samrat Dheer, who travels to Dubai often for business, said, “I mostly go to Mumbai now to catch Dubai flights, but it is not possible every time. Murlidhar Mohol, the minister of state for civil aviation, should take up this issue with the airline.”