Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) witnessed chaos on Friday after nearly 700 passengers were stranded following cancellation of Lufthansa Airlines flights to Munich and Frankfurt due to pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit strike for salary appraisals.
Passengers, many of whom were students, resorted to sloganeering both inside and outside the terminal and police had to be called in to control the situation. The protesters were pacified by the CISF and the Delhi Police after being assured that efforts were being made to make alternative arrangements by the airline.
IGIA Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Tanu Sharma said they received information at 12.15 am that a crowd had gathered on the main road in front of departure gate no-1 of Terminal-3. A police team was rushed to the spot.
“Around 150 persons were present there, and because of this, the traffic movement was slowed down. The crowd was demanding a refund or an alternative arrangement to be made for their relatives who were present inside the terminal building,” said the DCP.
Two flights of Lufthansa, one scheduled for 2.50 am take-off for Frankfurt with 300 passengers, and another scheduled for 1.10 am take-off for Munich with 400 passengers, were cancelled, the DCP said.
Young passengers took to social media, urging for help from the Government.
“Lufthansa has to cancel 800 flights at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for Friday... Lufthansa is working with joint forces to return its flight operations to normal status as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, the effects of the strike may still lead to individual flight cancellations or delays this Saturday and Sunday,” ,” the airline had said in a statement.
An estimated 1,30,000 passengers will be affected, in view of the upcoming weekend, the end of the holidays in some parts of Europe.