Airlines Deals

PASSENGERS, who travelled by Air India (AI) flight 952 from Doha to Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram, in the wee hours of yesterday, had a harrowing time, some passengers told Gulf Times over the phone.

The flight, which left Doha around 2.30am yesterday with more than 200 passengers, was reportedly stranded at Bahrain airport for over five hours, much to the chagrin of passengers, who were expecting a stopover of not more than an hour.

“The entire crew virtually left us to fend for ourselves at the airport and we had no clue as to what was happening. They had apparently gone for a break at their hotel,” a passenger said.

Finally, the plane took off around 8am and reached Kochi only around 3pm (IST).

The aircraft had earlier arrived in Doha almost eight hours behind the schedule on Monday. Some of the passengers complained that they had to wait for more than six hours at the Kochi airport before boarding.

On the previous evening, Air India came under severe attack in Doha from Kerala-bound passengers, many of whom had to board another AI flight to Mumbai to travel home.

This was because AI 956, operating between Doha-Kochi/Calicut failed to arrive. Later, the plane that arrived some 12 hours behind schedule, left around 10.15am on Monday.