Indigo passengers stuck inside flight inside Bengaluru airport as staff not around to help them alight

Flight No. 6E 373 had a scheduled departure time of 11:05 pm from Jaipur on Saturday (January 18), but it took off only at 12:20 am on Sunday (January 19), a 75-minute delay.
IndiGo flight image used for representation
IndiGo flight image used for representation
Updated on
2 min read

BENGALURU: Around 150 passengers on an Indigo flight from Jaipur to Bengaluru recently experienced an unusual delay after the flight arrived at Kempegowda International Airport. The ground staff, who were supposed to help the passengers disembark from the aircraft, were missing, causing passengers to remain inside the aircraft for 30 minutes.

Flight No. 6E 373 had a scheduled departure time of 11:05 pm from Jaipur on Saturday (January 18), but it took off only at 12:20 am on Sunday (January 19), a 75-minute delay.

The A320 aircraft reached the runway of Terminal 1 only around 3 am.

Flyer Aniruddha Das, an advertising professional who was visiting Bengaluru on a business trip, told TNIE, “Since the flight left late and reached only by 3 am, most people on board were sleeping. The flight was full. Just after we landed, a bigger disappointment was in store as the Flight Captain announced that we had to stay inside the aircraft for some time due to the non-availability of ground staff.”

Das added that this was a completely unexpected scenario.

“I fly frequently and have been given all kinds of reasons for the delays passengers have to endure during travel. It is the first time I’ve heard that ground staff were not available at the airport. Since most flyers were too tired, there were no angry scenes and everyone kept waiting patiently in their seats. It must have been nearly half an hour,” he added.

Later on, passengers had to wait another half an hour at the baggage belt, according to his post on X.

Asked about the issue, Indigo said in a statement, “Flight No. 6E 373 from Jaipur to Bengaluru experienced a delay in ground operations due to a technical issue. Customers were kept informed while the airport team worked to resolve the issue. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to customers and appreciate their understanding.”

This is the latest in a series of bizarre incidents involving flights to or from Bengaluru. In January 2024, a male passenger was stuck for 17 hours in the loo of a SpiceJet flight from Mumbai to Bengaluru after the door lock malfunctioned.

In November 2023, Indigo made six passengers alight from a flight from KIA to Chennai as it had only six of them on board, while in January 2023, a Go First flight from Bengaluru to Delhi left behind 55 passengers and took off, leaving them inside the shuttle bus on the tarmac.

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