Eight hour ordeal in Egypt

Crew members of Air India rescue flight stuck onboard as local ATC denies clearanceIn an experience that would remind many of Tom Hanks in the movie Terminal, crew members onboard Air India's special flight to Egypt remained stranded for eight hours at the Cairo airport as the special flight to evacuate stranded Indians did not get clearance from the local Air Traffic Controller (ATC) to fly back, Air India sources said.u00a0u00a0 From battle zone: The violence that has been raging in Egyptu00a0 has forced Indians there to leave the country. An AI flight brought some of them home on TuesdayThe airline had diverted its Mumbai-Jeddah (AI 819) flight to Cairo which had reached Jeddah on January 29 and was scheduled to fly back to Mumbai on January 31. Instead, the flight reached Cairo on January 31 and it returned to Mumbai on February 1. The crew members remained on board for over 20 hours.u00a0u00a0We were in Jeddah on January 30 evening when a call came from Delhi that the next morning we would be sent on a rescue mission to Egypt. Most of us had not flown so far. When we were briefed about it we were nervous as Egypt has been boiling for quite some time, said a crew member who was onboard the Air India flight. He added that the crew members had sensed it was an emergency situation. There were two pilots and eight crew members on board the Airbus 330. We left at 1.30 pm India time on January 31 from Jeddah for Cairo. Till that time everything was normal. When we reached Cairo at around 4 pm IST, we came to know about the war-like situation, said a crew member. We were told that there was a curfew in the city and nobody was being allowed to come out of the airport, he added. We were not allowed to move out of the airport. The Embassy official who was deputed at the airport told us that a group of 25 Indians had been at the airport for the past two days. Later, others started coming in batches. It took almost four hours for all of them to assemble and board the flight, said an Air India official. But the crew and passengers had to spend another four hours inside the aircraft. We did not get ATC clearance for the next four hours. We had to wait. At one point of time we were not even sure whether we will be able to go back. There was confusion as to why they were holding back the flight, the official said. However, Air India officials said that there was enough food, first aid and other requisite items on board for which arrangements had been made at Jeddah airport itself. Air India does not have a base and flights to Cairo airport.When the aircraft took off from Cairo airport everybody was rejoicing. The aircraft took off at 12.30 am India time from Cairo and reached Mumbai at around 6 am. While coming out of the aircraft in Mumbai everybody was celebrating coming home, said the official.u00a0u00a0 Fare row! Stranded passengers returning home from crisis-hit Egypt today complained that Air India charged hefty amounts for a one-way ticket to Mumbai but the state-owned airline justified fares as high as Rs 45,000 claiming it only recovered costs. The one-way flight from Cairo to Mumbai cost the passengers between Rs 45,000 and Rs 55,000 and stranded fliers alleged that they had to shell out almost double the cost of a single ticket for the sector. The airline has charged fares as high as $980 (Rs 43,000). No doubt they have done a good job by rescuing us from the chaos in Cairo, but charging such exorbitant fares in such a situation is not at all justified, said Vineet Ahuja, who was in the flight. In the wake of complaints that passengers were charged exorbitantly, the airline said the special flights were not designated by the government as 'evacuation flights' where the cost could have been nominal or even free. Air India clarified that the airline only recovered costs and did not make 'huge profits' as alleged by some passengers. Air India would like to clarify that it only recovered costs and not made any 'huge profit' as alleged/ propagated in some quarters. The exercise, initiated on the Government's advice, was aimed at assisting stranded Indian passengers in Egypt, an Air India spokesperson said in a statement .