Hundreds of passengers 'stranded in India' after seven flights cancelled

Comtel Air, an Austria-registered airline, has been accused of "holding passengers to ransom" after leaving the planes grounded on the runway because of a dispute with airport authorities.
Hundreds of passengers have now been caught up in the dispute, with four UK-bound flights cancelled - two last weekend and two this weekend.
The stand off is believed to involve thousands of pounds in unpaid landing fees and airport taxes.
A plane bound for Birmingham was due to carry 220 passengers back to the UK today.
But the airline said the flight would not take off from Amritsar airport until it received around £27,000 - or £124 from each passenger - from its partners to cover the bill for unpaid fees.
The passengers, whose flight has been delayed since the weekend, have been ordered off the plane and forced to make alternative travel arrangements, it is understood.
On Tuesday, a plane carrying 170 people to Birmingham was grounded at Vienna airport for six hours until the passengers raised £24,000.
The aircraft was held on the tarmac while those on board were taken to cash machines to find the money needed.
Kandra Bhupinder, managing director of Golden Air Group, which part owns Comtel, said it was a "dreadful situation" for the airline.
"What I need is the money to pay my pilots, to pay for the fuel - this is what is holding us up," he said.
"It is not my job to try and get this money. If we do not get the 10,000 rupees per passenger we cannot afford to fly with everyone on board.
"We plan to leave with or without passengers. This is a really bad situation."
A spokeswoman for Birmingham airport said a total of seven Comtel flights had now been cancelled.
She said the airport was not aware of any imminent plans for the plane on the runway at Amritsar airport to return.
17/11/11 Telegraph, UK

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Categories: airports Nov 2011, Foreign Nov 2011