‘After entering Indian airspace, the flight was diverted to Amritsar’

More than 200 passengers who were already distressed after getting stuck in Almaty Kazakhstan due to the cancellation of Indigo flight P6E1802 on April 11 at 1250 am had to face further inconvenience when the rescheduled flight on the night of April 12 also got delayed What added to their frustration was that the flight which was supposed to land at New Delhi airport was diverted to AmritsarThe rescheduled flight was supposed to depart at 730 pm but it took off after 930 pm This delay angered the passengers who had already been stuck for over 17 hours According to a passenger the reason given was that the delay was due to extra fuelling because of congestion in Delhi One of the passengers questioned why the flight was not refuelled earlier as it had been at the airport since the previous night The passenger said this delay could have been avoidedKaran Verma a passenger said ldquoI was expecting to land in Delhi then book a bus to continue my journey to Nainital But once we entered Indian airspace an announcement was made on the flight saying that we would be landing at Amritsar airport instead of New Delhi due to a crew change This came as a complete shockmdashnot just to me but to all the passengers on board We had already been stuck for hours and this unexpected change made everyone angryrdquoAnother passenger Prajakta Samant said ldquoAfter landing the ground staff entered the aircraft and passengers began questioning them about why a crew change was needed for a relatively short flightrdquo ldquoThe ground staff who boarded the aircraft also didnrsquot seem to know the exact reason and requested to be allowed to proceed with their duties Some passengers firmly told the staff that a new pilot should be arranged immediately to fly the plane to its original destination New Delhi The staff assured everyone that arrangements would be made and the flight would take off as soon as possiblerdquo said another passengerAfter much discussion and arguments the flight finally took off from Amritsar airport at 230 am with a new pilot A passenger told midday that one of the pilots Akash Agarwal who flew the aircraft from Almaty to Amritsar did not leave the cockpit Before the plane took off again a doctor visited the cockpit but the exact reason for this visit is still unknown It is said that breath analysis was done on all crew members which may be a standard practice To pacify passengers the airline tried to distribute food However to avoid further delays the passengers requested the staff to simply hand over the food which they then distributed among themselvesPrajakta Samant the passenger further added ldquoI had received my second boarding pass for the Mumbai flight while I was in Almaty It was scheduled to depart from Terminal 1 in New Delhi at 2 am as my AlmatyndashNew Delhi flight was supposed to land at Terminal 3 around 1030 pm However by the time we actually reached New Delhi my connecting flight had already departedmdashand it was from a different terminal First we had to go through immigration and then collect our luggage When we arrived at the international terminal there was no airline counter available We approached a baggage service counter but the person there only had a computer and no facility to issue boarding passesrdquoldquoEveryone lined up there hoping to get some clarity about the next steps When my turn came I was told Irsquod be accommodated on a 6 am flight to Mumbai I was asked to take a picture of the PNR shown on the screen as I would need it to get a boarding pass at Terminal 1rdquo Samant said It was already 4 am and since the Mumbai flight was at 6 am Samant and other passengers headed to collect their luggage and exit the airport in order to catch a shuttle bus to the terminal from where the Mumbai flight would depart A female passenger on the bus was allegedly asked to get down to collect a coupon needed for the special shuttle However when she and a fellow passenger returned with the coupon the shuttle had already left without themWhile they were waiting another shuttle bus which runs to the InterState Bus Terminus ISBT via terminals arrived and they boarded it By 510 am they reached the IndiGo counter at the airport only to be told that the gate was far and boarding had closed Samant and other passengers told the IndiGo representatives that they must be accommodated on the next flight due to the amount of trouble they had faced Eventually the airline accommodated them on a 7 am flight to Mumbai Passengers alleged poor management and Some even said they would choose other airlines in the future Calls and messages to IndiGo Airlines for a statement went unanswered till press timeatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params