As many as 200 passengers of a SpiceJet flight from Pune to Bangalore had a harrowing experience on Sunday morning when their flight was delayed by nearly five hours.
While the airline said this was due to ‘runway closure’ at the Pune Airport, the airport officials clarified that there was no unexpected closure on Sunday.
The SpiceJet flight SG-519 was scheduled to depart from Lohegaon Airport at 5.50 am reaching Bangalore at 7.15 am. However, the flight departed at 10.30 am, thereby delaying the Bangalore-Pune flight (SG528) that departs at 9.05 am to reach Pune at 10.45 am.
Rahul Jain, a creative designer, who was among those stranded, said that the passengers were kept in the dark for hours about the expected time of departure by the airline. “The flight was scheduled to depart at 5.30 am. Late in the night — at about 1.30 am— I received a text message from the airline that the flight will depart at 9.15 am due to operational glitches. The passengers reached the airport accordingly. Even after we were done with all the formalities, there was no sign of boarding. Nobody gave us any explanation. Some passengers got angry and started shouting. One of the ground staff then approached and told us that the flight is expected to depart after 10.30 am due to runway closure. After a lot of argument, we finally left for Bangalore at 10.35 am,” said Jain.
27/06/16 Atikh Rashid/Indian Express
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
While the airline said this was due to ‘runway closure’ at the Pune Airport, the airport officials clarified that there was no unexpected closure on Sunday.
The SpiceJet flight SG-519 was scheduled to depart from Lohegaon Airport at 5.50 am reaching Bangalore at 7.15 am. However, the flight departed at 10.30 am, thereby delaying the Bangalore-Pune flight (SG528) that departs at 9.05 am to reach Pune at 10.45 am.
Rahul Jain, a creative designer, who was among those stranded, said that the passengers were kept in the dark for hours about the expected time of departure by the airline. “The flight was scheduled to depart at 5.30 am. Late in the night — at about 1.30 am— I received a text message from the airline that the flight will depart at 9.15 am due to operational glitches. The passengers reached the airport accordingly. Even after we were done with all the formalities, there was no sign of boarding. Nobody gave us any explanation. Some passengers got angry and started shouting. One of the ground staff then approached and told us that the flight is expected to depart after 10.30 am due to runway closure. After a lot of argument, we finally left for Bangalore at 10.35 am,” said Jain.
27/06/16 Atikh Rashid/Indian Express
