Chennai to Delhi in 15 hours by air, road

New Delhi: Irina and her 16-year-old daughter had such a bitter experience of Indian hospitality that the two might never want to return to the country. The Geneva residents were in India for a vacation and were booked on a SpiceJet flight from Chennai to Delhi on December 25. Their flight, delayed by a little over an hour, departed from Chennai at 9pm and at 11.30pm.
The flight, SG308, was scheduled to land in Delhi at 10.50pm. An hour after they were diverted to Jaipur, shortly after midnight, airline officials reportedly told passengers that they would not be able to make staying arrangements for them and that passengers would be put on buses heading for Delhi unless they made their own arrangements.
According to Irina, buses were lined up outside the airport and passengers were asked to get into any bus that agreed to take them. Irina and her daughter finally found place in a bus at 3am. "The bus was ordinary but at least we were on our way. However, an hour or so later, someone threw a stone at the bus and the windscreen cracked. The bus driver said he would not be able to drive in the fog and asked all of us to get off. We waited on the highway in the middle of nowhere for another bus," she said.
At the unearthly hour two buses passed by. One had a seat available. "People in the first bus refused to even open the door. The second bus stopped and had one seat. I put my daughter on it and ran to pick up our luggage. Through the entire journey, I stood on the footboard. We finally reached Delhi at 11am..." she said. SpiceJet officials were not available for comment.
29/12/10 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Categories: spicejet Dec 2010