Roni Antony & John Wilbert
Port Blair, Dec 20: Nearly 140 passengers were stranded at Port Blair Airport, nearly 200 more at Kolkata Airport last night, after Chartered Flight from Kolkata returned back without landing at Port Blair, reportedly, due to fog.
Passengers, including patients and aged people, alleged that nobody was giving them proper updates about alternative arrangement of flight.
“Flight cancellation is nothing new but the Airlines staffs must communicate properly with passengers and provide us food and accommodation, as it happens everywhere else. There are patients and kids among the stranded passengers and no one seems to care,” alleged an angry passenger at 3.30 AM. Passengers, who called in all possible places for help, said that till 3.30 AM they were not given proper information about any alternative arrangements, the Air India is making. Similar was the situation at Kolkata Airport, it is learnt.
Several hours later the passengers were informed that an alternative flight has been arranged for them at 1230 hrs today.
When Andaman Sheekha approached the Station Manager of Air India in Andaman to know why passengers had to face such mismanagement, he refused to comment anything on the record.
Many passengers demanded that the timing of Chartered flight from Kolkata must be changed as during night hours, in case of any cancellation, passengers get no help from authorities and also there is nothing for them to eat inside Airport.
