New Delhi: Passengers flying Singapore Airlines (SIA) from Singapore to Kolkata last Friday (June 8) had a harrowing time as they first had to wait on ground — inside a bus — for a long time, followed by another wait inside a hot aircraft in the humid city before they could finally take off for the city. The flight, SQ 516, has a schedule departure time of 9.10pm, took off that day just before midnight and the delay saw heated exchanges inside the Airbus A-330 on ground at Changi Airport.
A SIA spokesperson said: "SQ 516 operating from Singapore to Kolkata on June 8, 2018, experienced technical issues on ground resulting in a 2-hour-52-minutes delay. SIA sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused to the passengers on board."
Among the passengers was Chandni Doulatramani who was flying from Brisbane to Kolkata via Singapore with her senior citizen parents and a younger sister. Recounting her ordeal, she wrote on Facebook that the bus which was supposed to take them to the aircraft took about half an hour. "My 73-year-old father and many other senior citizens and toddlers were extremely uncomfortable and exhausted just standing there. Some of us frantically knocked on the door and windows." Finally they were made to alight from the bus and wait inside the terminal. They boarded the plane at 9.30pm.
"Upon boarding, we were told the air-conditioning in the aircraft was not working and it would be fixed within 15 minutes. Every five minutes the captain kept giving us live updates on the PA (public announcement) system — 'the engineer is on his way'; 'the engineer is here and it will be fixed soon'; 'please bear with us, the temperature will increase for 10 minutes before it starts cooling'…. Half an hour passed with zero ventilation in an aircraft full of passengers. An airhostess at some point told me the aircraft hasn't been in use for a long time and so the air-conditioning was not working… It was 31 degrees in Singapore and very humid," she said in her post.
13/06/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
A SIA spokesperson said: "SQ 516 operating from Singapore to Kolkata on June 8, 2018, experienced technical issues on ground resulting in a 2-hour-52-minutes delay. SIA sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused to the passengers on board."
Among the passengers was Chandni Doulatramani who was flying from Brisbane to Kolkata via Singapore with her senior citizen parents and a younger sister. Recounting her ordeal, she wrote on Facebook that the bus which was supposed to take them to the aircraft took about half an hour. "My 73-year-old father and many other senior citizens and toddlers were extremely uncomfortable and exhausted just standing there. Some of us frantically knocked on the door and windows." Finally they were made to alight from the bus and wait inside the terminal. They boarded the plane at 9.30pm.
"Upon boarding, we were told the air-conditioning in the aircraft was not working and it would be fixed within 15 minutes. Every five minutes the captain kept giving us live updates on the PA (public announcement) system — 'the engineer is on his way'; 'the engineer is here and it will be fixed soon'; 'please bear with us, the temperature will increase for 10 minutes before it starts cooling'…. Half an hour passed with zero ventilation in an aircraft full of passengers. An airhostess at some point told me the aircraft hasn't been in use for a long time and so the air-conditioning was not working… It was 31 degrees in Singapore and very humid," she said in her post.
13/06/18 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
0 comments:
Post a Comment