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India
Photo: OTV
The passengers of Delhi-Jharsuguda SpiceJet flight SG 8941 had a harrowing time as the airlines cancelled the flight after allegedly making the passengers wait at the Delhi airport for nine hours.
As per reports, the flight scheduled to take off at 12:20 pm on Friday changed its departure several times before finally cancelling it after nine hours of wait at around 9 pm.
The passengers alleged that the airlines’ staff did not allow them lounge to wait neither confirmed them whether the flight will operate on Saturday making them vent anger at the airlines.
“We have been waiting here since last nine hours. And they are rescheduling their boarding several times. I think SpiceJet is going towards insolvency. Their staff are very unprofessional. Passengers are getting frustrated and their patience is gradually weaning. Their behaviour does not seem like they are trying to help us. Instead, they have called the police force to intimidate us,” said a passenger of the flight.
Another passenger said, “They are telling us that the flight has been cancelled after making us wait at the airport for nine hours. They are denying us lounge access too, saying SpiceJet does not have a lounge in Delhi, which is an utter lie.”
“They have rescheduled our flight to 12:20 pm on Saturday. But the staff are still not sure whether the flight will take off at 12:30 or will be cancelled like today. They just want us to take our luggage and leave the airport,” she alleged.
It is pertinent to mention here that Mumbai-based businessman Harihara Mahapatra and his wife Preeti Mahapatra have announced a substantial investment of Rs 1,100 crore in cash-strapped SpiceJet. In an exchange filing on Tuesday, the airline said Harihara Mahapatra and Preeti Mahapatra, who are promoters of the Mumbai-based group Mahapatra Universal Limited, will jointly hold 21.98 per cent (1.99 per cent and 19.99 per cent, respectively,) stake in the airline.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Jharsuguda airport on September 22, 2018. Since then the airport has been operating scheduled flights to Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata. The airport was built under the Centre’s UDAN scheme at a cost of Rs 200 crore which includes the Odisha government’s share of Rs 75 crore.
