MADURAI: Passengers of Colombo-bound Spice Jet flight were stranded for nine hours on Saturday wee hours at Madurai airport after the plane was delayed due to operational reasons.
The flight, SG 3, was scheduled to depart from Madurai at 12:50 am. However, the flight was constantly rescheduled without informing passengers about the reason for the same, before it finally took off at 9:30 am.
Speaking to ANI, one of the passengers of the delayed flight said that a total of 68 passengers were stuck at the airport unaware of the reason for the rescheduling. "They [airport authorities] did not tell us the reason for the flight's delay. In total, 68 passengers were stuck here including small children and women," he said.
Another passenger, who was travelling to Colombo on account of his brother's demise, also expressed his angst against the airline.
"My brother passed away yesterday. So I am in a hurry to reach Sri Lanka. My brother's body has been brought and my relatives are all waiting for my presence. But here, the flight has been continuously delayed. I paid a hefty amount to purchase the ticket but this is of no use," he claimed.
However, a Spice Jet spokesperson said that the flight was delayed on account of operational reasons. "Due to operational reasons, your flight SG 3 dated 09-Nov-18 from Madurai will now operate as the new flight number SG 9003 dated 10-Nov-18 with the revised departure time of 09:30 AM. We regret the inconvenience caused," a statement from the airline noted.