Mumbai: Passengers of a Dubai-bound Emirates flight had to wait for 13 hours at the Mumbai airport before they could board the aircraft. The passengers, who had checked-in at the airport at 7.30am, boarded the flight at 8.30pm. All this while, they had to wait at the airport. A minor scuffle was also reported between the passengers and airline officials as the former tried to barge into the Emirates lounge to protest.
Dubai-bound Emirates flight EK 505 was scheduled to depart from Mumbai at 9.30am. According to the passengers, they completed all the check-in formalities and reported at the boarding gate at 9.15am. "However, the airline officials asked us to wait for another 30 minutes for the boarding gate to open. The officials told us that there was a minor snag in the aircraft and hence it will take some time," said R George Panakal, one of the passengers who were stranded at the airport. A consultant with a training solutions major, Panakal was on his way to Johannesburg for a training session. "We kept waiting. Later, we were told that the flight was delayed further," he said.
01/03/12 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India
