Technical glitch in Air India Express Guwahati-Kolkata flight; delayed by over 18 hours

Guwahati: Passengers on an Air India Express flight from Guwahati to Kolkata faced a harrowing ordeal after being deboarded twice due to a 'technical glitch' in the aircraft before being flown to their destination on Sunday afternoon — more than 18 hours after the scheduled departure, officials said.

The incident involved 170 passengers aboard Air India Express flight IX-1226, which was scheduled to depart from Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport at 9.20 pm on Saturday.

The flight was delayed post midnight because of a "technical glitch" and passengers remained seated inside all the while, an aggrieved traveller said in a video that has gone viral on social media.

Several such videos of the delayed flight are being circulated on social media alleging no clear information for the flight's delay.

PTI, however, independently could not confirm the authenticity of the videos.

"Around 1:30 am, we were asked to deboard and taken to the lounge. From there, we were taken to a very cheap hotel for overnight stay. It did not provide us any breakfast," he alleged.

On Sunday morning, the passengers were brought back to the airport and boarded the same aircraft around 9:30 a.m. However, they were again informed by the captain and crew that the flight was further delayed due to the same technical issue.

After some time, they were again deboarded and brought back to the airport with the local Air India Express officials stating that a separate aircraft will ferry them to Kolkata.

Finally, they left Guwahati at 3:34 pm in a separate flight. Some of the 170 passengers opted for other airlines as offered by Air India Express.

An Air India Express spokesperson told PTI that the evening flight on the Guwahati-Kolkata route developed a "technical issue".

"An alternative aircraft was arranged the next day, resulting in an extended delay. Guests were provided with service recovery options, including hotel accommodation, complimentary rescheduling, or cancellation with a full refund," he added.

Rejecting the charge of 'cheap hotel' by passengers, an official of the company in Guwahati said travellers were offered the best available hotel and the airline staff also stayed in that property.