New Delhi: A private Romanian airline flight with 303 passengers, all possibly Indians, had been grounded at Vatry airport in France since Thursday over human trafficking links.
The Nicaragua-bound Airbus A340 aircraft of Legend Airlines has finally left for Mumbai, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday evening.
News of the plane’s departure for Mumbai comes after hours of confusion amid reports that many of the passengers didn’t want to return to their home country.
There were reports a day earlier that 10 Indians, including minors, had applied for asylum.
“The situation is confusing. Some of the passengers were unhappy… they wanted to continue their journey to Nicaragua as planned,” Liliana Bakayoko, legal counsel for Romania’s Legend Airlines, told a French TV channel and radio network earlier in the day.
She had told PTI the plane will would leave France at 10 am local time (2.30 pm IST), and indicated that 200-250 passengers had consented to return.
However, police told Le Monde that the plane won’t leave “before noon”.
At least two passengers are have not been authorised to leave, while around a dozen others have sought asylum.
