Parliamentarians left standing at Sahar airport

Members of a parliamentary standing committee were standing at the Mumbai airport for almost half an hour as the lounge reserved for VIPs was closed for maintenance. The annoyed members expressed their displeasure with the airport officials.

On January 11, S Nachiappan, chairman of standing committee for public grievances and 16 others arrived at the Sahar terminal of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) at noon. The MPs were to board an Indian Airlines flight IC 597 for Goa at 3.45pm from terminal 2A. “However, the VIP lounge was closed, which irked the dignitaries,” said an airport official. 

Upset at the treatment meted out to them, they demanded that the lounge be opened for them. The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) officials, expressing their inability to do so due to maintenance, asked the MPs to wait in the VIP lounge at terminal 2C. 

However, the MPs demanded that they be provided seats at the terminal. The MIAL officials agreed to do so and made arrangements. The MIAL spokesperson confirming the incident,  “Whenever there is such a case, we take the VIPs to the other lounge in 2C. But the MPs refused. Moreover, the airport authorities were not intimated about the MPs’ travel schedule.”