Air India Express station manager says the flight from Dubai was delayed due to weather constraints
Higher official is “Unaware of any such incident”
Mangaluru: The Air-India station manager of Mangaluru has cited ‘weather constraints’ for the delay of Dubai-Mangaluru flight on Thursday. Due to the delay, the passengers of Mangaluru bound Air India Express flight IX-814 were made to wait for more than six hours for the flight to take off at the Dubai International Airport on Thursday.
The passengers who had booked their ticket to fly to Mangaluru International Airport on 27 March, and were scheduled to take off from Dubai at 11.40 pm, took off at 6.00 am on 28 March and reached Mangaluru at 10.30 am. A six hours delay from the scheduled time.
The passengers who were made to sit and wait on the flight throughout the night expressed their dissent and anguish over the incident and blamed the in-flight staff for being ‘rude’ to the passengers.
“They did not even provide water for us to drink all this while. We were treated unethically and were kept misinformed about the delay until very late. There was a passenger who was coming to attend the funeral of his brother, they assured him that there will only be one or two hour delay but in reality they delayed us by more than six hours” one of the passenger told Vartha Bharati after the flight landed at Mangaluru International Airport after
“Initially, when we checked in at the airport, we were told that the flight is delayed for one hour. It is normal and we were fine with it. But we were not provided any information about the flight by anyone when it went in excess of the time. We were told at 3.45 that the flight will take off at 5.30 am” he added.
Speaking to Vartha Bharati, the station manager at Air India Express office in Mangaluru added that it was due to weather that the flight was delayed. He said “The flight which went from here, and had to start its return journey from Dubai at 11.40 had to land at Sharjah Airport due to weather constraints. In such a scenario we can’t take the flight immediately to Dubai when the weather is cleared. There is a lot of paperwork that goes in and it takes time. And that is what caused the delay”.
He however refused to comment further on the issue and shared contact of higher authority Mr. Prageesh, based in Kochi and who was authorized to comment on behalf of the Air India Express.
When contacted, Prageesh replied that he was on a ‘long leave’ and he was unaware of any such incident.
“I am not in touch with the office from last few days as I’ am on a long leave. So I don’t have any update regarding the incident” he also failed to provide an alternate contact who can be contacted to get the official statement of the flight operating company.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
