Bengaluru: There was chaos at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Friday after passengers bound for Nepal staged a protest against a private airline, alleging that gross mismanagement disrupted their travel plans for two consecutive days.
The flight departed Bengaluru for Kathmandu at 10.30 am on Thursday, passengers said. However, the aircraft returned without landing in Kathmandu under circumstances that were not clearly communicated to travellers, they alleged, as reported by News18.
On Friday morning, the same aircraft reportedly took off again, but once again failed to land in Kathmandu and was diverted to Lucknow. Passengers were made to remain seated inside the aircraft for several hours after landing in Lucknow, they alleged.
“We were kept inside the plane for hours with
out proper information. No one clearly explained what was happening,” a passenger said during their protest on Friday.
Finally, after a prolonged wait, the travellers staged a protest inside the aircraft, forcing the airline to fly them back to Bengaluru.
Several passengers sat in protest near the immigration area at the airport after reaching Bengaluru, expressing anger over what they described as a waste of two days of their time.
They were confined inside the aircraft for more than 30 hours in total, passengers claimed, accusing the airline of poor coordination and communication.
“Our entire Nepal trip has been ruined. We planned this well in advance and suffered financial losses,” a passenger was quoted as saying.
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel intervened and attempted to pacify the agitating passengers. Many continued their sit-in protest though, demanding accountability and compensation from the airline.
There were more than 40 Kannada-speaking travellers among those on board, who said their long-planned Nepal trip was disrupted due to the airline’s alleged failure to manage the situation effectively.
There was no immediate reaction from the airline.