Mumbai: Several Indian passengers who were
flown home from strife-hit Cairo on two Air India (AI) flights
have complained that the airline charged fares as high as Rs
43,000 for a single ticket to Mumbai.
The flag carrier had operated two flights as a special
measure to airlift Indian citizens who were caught in the
violent unrest in Egypt but some stranded fliers alleged that
they had to shell out almost more than double the cost of a
single ticket from Cairo to Mumbai.
"The airline has charged fares as high as USD 980 (Rs
43,000). No doubt they have done a good job by rescuing us
from the chaos in Cairo, but charging such exorbitant fares in
such a situation is not at all justified," said a passenger,
who landed at the Mumbai international airport this morning.
Some of the fliers alleged that the airline did not
realise the gravity of the situation and demanded payment
only in cash to book a flight ticket.
"They were taking only those people, who were able to
pay in cash. They were also not accepting payment either by
debit or credit card. Due to this reason, a lot of students,
who are not in a position to pay are still stuck in Cairo,"
another passenger, who reached Mumbai, said.
However, Air India denied that it had over-charged
passengers and said these were normal return fares.
"We operated an empty aircraft from Mumbai yesterday
to ferry these passengers by pulling out the plane from a
scheduled service," an Air India official said.
A one-way ticket costs around Rs 20,000 at least in
this sector, said a travel agent here.
Meanwhile, Air India flight AI 800 landed at the
Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport at around 6 am with
219 passengers from the troubled nation on board.
Yesterday, a batch of around 300 Indians, stuck in the
African country landed here safely, much to the relief of
anxiously waiting relatives in the city, who were happy for
their luck kins who escaped the tumult that has hit Egypt over
the demand for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Most passengers, who arrived in the first batch in
Boeing 747-800 last afternoon were from TATA Steel, which
organised a three-day conference in Cairo.
Nearly 550 Indians, including tourists, have been
transported back from Egypt till now.
PTI
