As air traffic was crippled for third day in a row since the onset of fog in Delhi, air travellers faced yet another tormenting day at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. long queues were visible at the airline customer care desks.
Many stranded passengers complained that the airlines had not updated them about the flight status, even when the flight was cancelled. Others alleged non-cooperation from the airline staff, in case of a query regarding reimbursement or whether they would be able to accommodate passengers on the next available flight.
Worst-hit were the passengers on the connecting flights. For an exasperated Aashna Bedi, the only priority is to reach home as early as possible. “I am tired of waiting. My flight, which was scheduled on December 15 from Doha, was cancelled and was rescheduled for the next day. Finally, I reached Delhi on Tuesday and had a connecting flight to my destination Amritsar on the same day. Unfortunately, the connecting flight was also cancelled and I am waiting for the airline to update me about the status of the flight. I can’t even get accommodated on other airlines as other flights are also not taking off,” she said.
Airport officials informed that the flights to Amritsar were cancelled as the airport there does not have the modern equipments that can handle landings in low visibility conditions. Other passengers rued that there were no airline executives to help them provide the flight status. “My flight was scheduled to depart on Tuesday to Mozambique, but was cancelled and so I was sent home. Even after so many hours, there is no status update on part of the Ethiopian Airlines and there is no airline staff to provide the requisite information; the display board is showing the flight status as closed,” whined Siddharth Misra, who works in Mozambique.
Other passengers such as Tarunjeet Singh complained that though the Virgin Atlantic provided them an overnight stay at a hotel as the flight was cancelled on Tuesday, it did not give him the flexibility to continue his rest of the journey to Amritsar on his own.