An IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Qatar's Doha was delayed today with passengers alleging that they waited inside the aircraft for nearly five hours. The passengers claimed they were eventually asked to deboard the plane -- which was scheduled to take off at 3:55 am -- and were taken to the immigration waiting area at the Mumbai airport due to some "technical issue" with the aircraft. About 250 to 300 passengers were reportedly stranded at the airport.
An IndiGo spokesperson confirmed that flight number 6E 1303 was delayed and then canceled due to a technical reason and apologized for the "inconvenience".
"The aircraft tried to depart for its destination a couple of times but had to finally be called off due to the extended time lag on account of various procedural delays," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.
Speaking to NDTV, a passenger said they were not allowed to deboard the plane because the immigration process was over.
"They allowed us to wait in a holding area after we fought with them. No official was talking to us," he alleged.
Another flyer said that they were not given any water or food.
"It is a chaos over here. People are worried as their jobs are at risk. Passengers are waiting with their children," he said.
IndiGo, however, said its airport team "immediately provided assistance to the affected customers and provided refreshments and necessary arrangements".
"The customers are being provided hotels and are being rebooked as per their final destination. IndiGo sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused to its customers," the spokesperson said.
Earlier Saturday, passengers of a SpiceJet flight going from Delhi to Bihar's Darbhanga had a heated exchange with the airline officials after the airline allegedly canceled the flight five minutes before boarding. They were waiting to board SpiceJet flight No. SG 495.
Some of the passengers who have been flying on the Delhi-Darbhanga route alleged the airline has been canceling flights on this route frequently for the last few months.