NEW DELHI: Nearly 150 passengers on board a SpiceJet flight from Dubai to Delhi were in for a nasty shock on Wednesday (October 8) as their luggage was left behind at the Dubai International Airport. It was not a blunder on the part of the airline but an action carried out as per Standard Operating Procedure since extra fuel had to be loaded on account of the inclement weather in Delhi, said the airline.
Flight SG-12, a Boeing 737 Max 8, took off from Dubai International Airport at 2.08 am (local time) and reached Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport at 6.48 am. On reaching, passengers were in for a shock after they were told by the airline staff that their baggage had not been loaded by the airline on the flight.
The luggage was transported by the airline through multiple other airlines and delivered free of cost at the doorsteps of all the passengers the following day.
Elaborating on the incident, a source at SpiceJet told TNIE, “Much before the flight could depart, reports on inclement weather were received by the crew. Since it is just a three-and-a-half-hour flight and the bad weather conditions could persist, the flight may not be able to land due to poor visibility. The flight would then have to be diverted to Jaipur or Ahmedabad which require additional fuel. Hence, a decision was taken to load extra fuel in the flight to handle the eventuality.”
The luggage was not forgotten, as misunderstood by the passengers, he stressed. “This is a general practice followed by all airlines. There is generally no announcement made to passengers about whether their luggage is boarded or not. It was a decision taken in the interest of a safe landing for all,” the source said.
"The only other option was to deboard all the passengers and then wait till the weather improves and take them with their luggage. This would delay the journey by roughly ten hours. Hence, we decided to leave the baggage behind,” he explained. “The luggage arrived the next day at Delhi airport and was delivered to everyone on board," he added.
A section of the flyers took to social media to vent their ire and blamed the airline for leaving behind their belongings.