NEW DELHI: IndiGo passenger woes at Istanbul continue unabated in peak travel season. A Turkish Airlines wide-body Boeing 777 wet-leased (hired with operating crew) by IndiGo to operate to Delhi on Friday at 8.15pm developed a snag and the flight was cancelled. That left about 400 passengers stranded at the airport, with many complaining of getting no food, water, resting place or information of alternate travel plans. IndiGo sent two 222-seater narrow-body Airbus A321 aircraft from Delhi on Saturday to fly them home. They are expected to take off from Istanbul late Saturday.
This was the second instance of Turkish Airlines wide-body planes (wet-leased by IndiGo) developing snags. The Istanbul-to-Delhi and -Mumbai flights of Dec 11 were similarly affected, and those passengers arrived at their destinations after a delay of over two days. A aviation ministry official said: “IndiGo has been asked to take care of passengers. Other steps by government will be considered after report of IndiGo is received.”