Karipur: The passengers who boarded an Air India Express flight at the Doha airport on Wednesday, to travel to Kozhikode, were hoping to reach their destination in four hours. Little did they know their time on the flight would extend to 22 hours, that too with three detours – to Kannur, Mangaluru and Kochi, before landing in Kozhikode due to extreme weather conditions. The 180 passengers, including kids, pregnant women and the elderly had no choice, but to trust the airline that hardly tried to help them handle the ordeal.
At a time when Air India Express' actions are widely condemned after the recent mass cancellations of flights following a cabin crew strike, the Doha – Kozhikode episode became another nightmare for flyers who trusted the airline. No food, no AC, additional detours The Air India Express flight had departed from Doha at Indian time at 3.30 pm and was supposed to arrive at the airport in Kozhikode by 7.
25 pm. The aircraft was directed to Kannur as the weather got worse. However, the flight didn’t receive the permission to land there.
The aircraft then flew to Managaluru and landed there by 9.30 pm. Even though the passengers were instructed to deboard the aircraft by 11 pm, they refused.
They spent the night inside the aircraft. The passengers said that they were given food only by 3.30 am and that the AC inside the aircraft was switched off as soon as it landed.
They were informed that they would leave at 7 am, but the aircraft took off only by 9 am. .
