Passengers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport had a harrowing time as Air India pilots continued with their strike for the second day on Thursday.
Passengers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) had a harrowing time as Air India pilots continued with their strike for the second day on Thursday. Nationwide, around 650 pilots are on strike, which forced cancellation of AI 80 flights, both international and domestic.
Sources said that airline authorities cancelled international flights (AI-112, 011, 010, 131, 191 and AI-144) owing to lack of pilots. AI officials were trying to fly two international flights (130 and 180 seater) for international passengers late in the night for Delhi and Mumbai from where they could head to their respective foreign destinations.
Over five dozens of passengers who had come from the
neighbouring states such as Rajasthan and were heading to Kuwait were left stranded at the airport not knowing what to do.
“They (AI officials) told us to come back next week as flights are not available. Giving us a written statement, the officials asked us to get the refund of ticket money from their city office.
However, they didn't allow us to travel in the two international flights they brought for international passengers," said, an angry passenger at the airport. Similarly, another passenger, Faisal, a resident of Dungarpur in Rajasthan, who missed his flight to Kuwait, said that his visa will be of no use if he missed Thursday's flight. He said that he had booked the ticket on April 26 but the airlines officials didn't bother to inform him about the cancellation in advance. AI sources said that since they could manage only two international flights with a capacity of only 310 passengers, rest of the passengers had to be turned down.
This apart, domestic passengers travelling in Air India also suffered huge problems following cancellation of flights since Thursday morning. Sources said that three domestic flights in the morning couldn't take off, adding that, some passengers were accommodated in other private airlines but it wasn't enough and many passengers had to return home.
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