Passengers stranded inside IndiGo flight for over an hour after landing at Pune airport

Bay allocation is managed by the airport authorities, and due to air traffic congestion in Pune, overall flight operations have been significantly impacted, said the airlines

Passengers on IndiGo flight 6E 1484 from Dubai to Pune faced a harrowing experience on Wednesday night after their aircraft, despite landing on time, was forced to wait for more than an hour on the runway due to the unavailability of a parking bay.

The Dubai–Pune flight, which departed at 5.30 pm (local time) and landed around 10 pm, reportedly remained stationary on the tarmac while flyers were stranded inside the aircraft. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The Dubai–Pune flight, which departed at 5.30 pm (local time) and landed around 10 pm, reportedly remained stationary on the tarmac while flyers were stranded inside the aircraft.

One of the passengers, Raj Shahani, raised a complaint with IndiGo Airlines. Shahani said, “IndiGo 6E flight 1484 from Dubai to Pune, irony is, the flight lands on time, but no parking is available for the aircraft. Passengers were stuck inside for over an hour. This is a regular issue with this flight, but all IndiGo does is send regrets and apologies. Why can’t they sort this out with the Pune airport authorities?” (sic)

Another passenger on the same flight, who requested anonymity, described the experience as ‘extremely frustrating,’ adding, “We could see other aircraft moving and taking off while we just sat waiting inside. The crew kept apologising but had no updates to provide. With limited air conditioning and tired passengers, especially elderly ones and children, it became very uncomfortable.”

IndiGo issued a statement which read, “We truly regret the delay and the inconvenience caused. Bay allocation is managed by the airport authorities, and due to air traffic congestion in Pune, overall flight operations have been significantly impacted. We completely understand how frustrating such disruptions can be.”

Dhairyashil Vandekar, aviation expert, said, “Such delays may occur due to delayed departures, bunching of arrivals, limited availability of aircraft parking bays, unexpected disruptions to the airport’s schedule, or the need for more efficient apron management.”

“Beyond passenger inconvenience, such sudden delays impose a heavy cost on the airlines due to fuel burned during extended idling, subsequent flights being delayed requiring passenger facilitation, and at times, can even trigger crew duty time limitations requiring contingency measures,” he said.

“If occurring frequently, AAI needs to urgently address these critical challenges. They must expedite efforts to create additional aircraft parking bays, improve real-time monitoring to facilitate the faster turnaround of delayed flights, and ensure that on-time arrivals are not penalised by making them wait due to the nonavailability of parking bays. More close coordination between airport operators, airlines, and ground handlers will help in better apron management and improve the situation. Additionally, AAI may review peak-hour flight schedules to reduce congestion and ease pressure on bay allocation. Critically, any plans to increase flights must always be aligned with apron and terminal capacity to ensure operational balance between passenger processing and aircraft movements,” he added.