Dozens of BA passengers stranded at Mumbai airport 'told to wait eight days'

Tuesday 06th January 2015 17:56 EST
 

The 38 holidaymakers, including children with special needs, had flown from Goa to Mumbai on a delayed Air India flight, and were due to fly back to London Heathrow with British Airways. But the British Airways plane did not wait for the connection, leaving the passengers stranded at the terminal and sitting on the floor.
Passengers took to social media to describe a dysfunctional state of affairs at the airport, reporting shouting matches between British Airways and Indian officials over who was to blame.
Airline representatives are also alleged to have "disappeared" at key moments in the passengers' ordeal.
"Kids and special needs passengers sleep on floor. British Airways officials have disappeared," tweeted musician Sean Read, one of the stranded passengers.
Insult was added to injury after seven passengers were apparently offered seats on a Turkish Airlines flight, but no official from British Airways was around to accept the offer.
He said passengers had been offered "no hotel, no food, no flight" by either the airport or the airline.
Tia Fisher, an English teacher forced to sleep on the floor at the airport, tweeted that passengers had been the victim of a "total cock- up".
"No response from British Airways yet and BA staff in Mumbai airport just went home. Desperate for help and sanity here," she said.
A spokesperson for British Airways told the Independent: "We are doing all we can to assist customers who missed their connection to our flight from Mumbai to London. In order to get them on their way as quickly as possible we have booked a number of customers onto flights with other airlines, and we are working to rebook those remaining onto the next available flights."


comments powered by Disqus



to the free, weekly Asian Voice email newsletter