24-hour ordeal ends as Dubai-M’lore AI flight finally takes off

24-hour ordeal ends as Dubai-M’lore AI flight finally takes off

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, April 11, 2012  : It was relief at last for the over 150 stranded passengers of the Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express Flight, at the Terminal –II of the Dubai International Airport, when their flight took off finally after a 24 hour delay  at 1.10 am on April 11, Wednesday.

The passengers including several women and children who were to board the flight scheduled for 1.10  am on April 10, Tuesday, were dismayed when there were no signs of  their boarding announcement even after all immigration formalities were complete.

There was utter chaos and confusion when none of the Air India officials at the Dubai airport came out with a satisfactory explanation for the delay. There was no information as to whether the flight was cancelled, delayed or whether they would be boarded in the next day’s flight. The stranded passengers were later shifted to a hotel and again brought to the airport at 7 pm with a promise that the flight would depart at 8 pm. But when even this promise turned out false,  patience of the stranded passengers began running out. They were heard demanding an explanation as well as clarification for the delay. At one juncture, the police and security personnel had to intervene to pacify the passengers agitated by the inordinate delay and the apathy of the Air India authorities.

Airport authorities however could only cite technical reasons for the delay though an Air India Express flight had departed on schedule from Mangalore airport to Dubai the previous day.

Finally, there were some smile on the faces of the stranded passengers as they boarded the flight at 1.10 am on April 11, Wednesday after a 24 hour ordeal.