Lucknow: A Samajwadi Party MP on Friday alleged
that passengers of a Delhi-bound Air India flight were made to wait for over 40 minutes at Amausi airport this evening as some of its staff members had gone for sight seeing, a charge denied by the airlines.
"The flight IC-812 was kept waiting at the Amausi airport here for over 40 minutes for some airlines staff who were said to be on sight seeing to Kanpur", Samajwadi Party`s Rajya Sabha member Rashid Masood said.
"As I had an appointment in New Delhi I enquired as to
why the flight was being delayed and was told that 12 VVIPs
were on their way," Masood said adding that he was also not
provided with the complaint book by the airlines staff.
Repeated requests and protests by passengers fell on
deaf ears and it was only when they had arrived that the plane
took off some 40 minutes late, Masood alleged.
He said he would make a formal complaint to the Civil
Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh about the incident and would also be meeting them
shortly over the issue.
However, refuting the charge an Air India official in New
Delhi said that the plane was delayed as 18 passengers from
Kanpur, who were to board the flight IC-7801
(Delhi-Allahabad-Kanpur), could not do so as the flight did
not reach Kanpur due to bad weather and poor visibility and
had to be accomodated in IC-812.
The Kanpur-bound flight from Delhi terminated at
Allahabad and went back due to which the 18 passengers could
not board it, he said.
They were later sent to Lucknow by road to take IC-812
which was going to Delhi from Lucknow, he said.
PTI
