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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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
