NEW DELHI: More than 150 irate SpiceJet passengers staged a sit-in protest at Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 on Tuesday, demanding answers from airline staff over huge delays in Dubai-bound flights from India. The flights were delayed by 19 to 29 hours on Monday and Tuesday.
The airline has been facing operational and financial issues, with one aircraft recently grounded. A source said its flights would be delayed for a few more days due to the cascading effect.
The passengers raised slogans including “Spicejet Chor hai” and “Spicejet haye haye” over the delays since Monday. They were not given clear information on departure times and were not provided food, drinks or accommodation, according to those familiar with the protest.
Delhi airport authorities offered refreshments and food to the passengers, an airport source said. "The protests were held on Monday evening as well as on Tuesday morning," he added.
Flight SG 5118 was scheduled to depart from IGIA at 8.30 am on Monday but left at 2 pm on Tuesday. Flight SG 5105 was scheduled to depart from IGIA at 10.10 pm on Monday but left at 5 pm on Tuesday. Flight SG 5113 was scheduled to depart from Mumbai International Airport at 12.55 pm on Monday but departed at 11.45 pm on Tuesday.
SpiceJet flights from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and a few other airports were also delayed by several hours. The airline had recently shut down its Chennai operations due to operational reasons.
In a statement, the airline said, “SpiceJet flights SG 5111 & SG 5105, operating from Delhi to Dubai, were delayed due to operational reasons following the grounding of an aircraft. Alternate flights were arranged to accommodate the affected passengers, and the airline made every effort to minimise the disruption.”
A source said, “It was a creeping delay and hence the delay kept getting extended. We could inform those who booked directly through Spicejet as the phone numbers were available. However, in the case of those who had booked through travel agents or other platforms or resorted to bulk booking, the correct numbers of every passenger was not available.”
Flights scheduled to operate on Tuesday were rescheduled for Wednesday, while Wednesday’s flights were pushed to Thursday, a source said.
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu recently told newspersons that the government was monitoring the airline closely.