Irate passengers agitated in the lounge against the delay of Air India flight AI 021 bound towards New Delhi. (Representational Image)
A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata was delayed for almost seven hours, triggering passengers to protest this morning, an Air India official said.
The official said flight AI 021 due to take-off at 10.30 am, was delayed for nearly seven hours due to a "technical glitch" and left at 5.15 pm after the problem was rectified.
The passengers, however, agitated in the lounge against the delay, and were pacified only after the airlines announced the time of the take-off, the official said.
Congress lawmaker Avijit Mukherjee and BJP lawmaker Babul Supriyo were also among the passengers but they co-operated with the airline's authorities and did not participate in the agitation, the officials said.
"As Air India accords maximum priority to safety issues, the Air India engineering team has been working hard to rectify this glitch and make the aircraft available for flying," the official said quoting an official statement. Passengers were served lunch and refreshments and were kept updated about the developments, the official added.