The 179 passengers of the Air India Express IX 1132 to Kochi, which made an emergency landing in Bengaluru following a fire scare on Saturday night, are protesting in the airport as the airline has issued boarding passes only to 120 flyers for a new flight. Manorama News reported that the passengers, who have been waiting for more than 10 hours at the airport, are protesting though the first alternate flight was scheduled to leave at 9.30 am.
Aby Antony, one of the passengers, told the channel that airline issued boarding passes arbitrarily. "The airline isn't addressing our concerns properly. Around 4 am today, they said they would arrange hotel facilities and an alternate flight for us.
When we asked how we would enter the airport after exiting, they agreed to issue boarding passes in advance. We later learnt that not everyone will get the passes," Antony said. The issue was so random that only three of a four-member family got passes.
Similarly, a daughter was left out while her parents got the passes. "When asked about those left-out, we were told that alternate flights would be arranged later in the day, around 12.30 pm or 4 pm, for them.
That's when we decided to protest, demanding flights for all passengers, together," he said. Antony also alleged that the airline had not arranged food after 4 pm on Saturday. "We weren't even served a tea in the morning," he said.
The emergency landing The flight made the landing at Bengaluru after a fire was noticed in one of its engi.