IndiGo Delhi flight with passengers stranded on runway for 7 hours

Flight 6E-6097 was scheduled to leave Mumbai at 3:15 pm and reach Delhi at 5.30 pm. The plane finally departed at 9:55 pm.

The Delhi-bound flight of Indigo airlines with passengers on board was delayed by more than seven hours on Wednesday at Mumbai airport amid rain and waterlogging in the city. Harassed passengers took to twitter complaining about the delay, lack of food and water and inconvenience caused to kids and elderly.

The Delhi-bound flight of Indigo airlines with passengers on board was delayed by more than seven hours at Mumbai airport.(Reuters Photo)

Flight 6E-6097 was scheduled to leave Mumbai at 3:15 pm and reach Delhi at 5.30 pm. The plane finally departed at 9:55 pm.

“6E (IndiGo flight code) 6097 what happened since last 6 hours. Evey half hour they changed the flight timing. We are sitting in flight but pilot is saying it will take time,” tweeted a passenger, who tagged it to the twitter handle of the ministry of civil aviation as well.

“Sir what is happening with Indigo flight 6E6097. The passengers are locked in the flight! Why don’t u cancel the license of such pathetic airlines? It may lead to mass genocide,” tweeted another angry passenger.

“Really disappointing service from #indigo. Even after repeatedly asking , we were informed flight is on time. Even 2 hours before departure. But an hour before, delay it to 2.30hrs and kept delaying till depature at 7.20am. why can’t you plan and inform passengers,” tweeted another harassed passenger.

IndiGo, in a statement, said “Due to the unprecedented non-stop rains in Mumbai, there are close to 30 flights on ground. As a result of flooding and water-logging on roads and the subsequent traffic jams, many of our ground support staff, crew and captains have not been able to reach the airport on time.

“As a result, the departure flights have also been held up. We are doing everything possible to restore normalcy.”

Life was disrupted in Mumbai as rains battered the city on Wednesday hitting rail, air and road traffic and waterlogging almost the entire city.

According to Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the private aerodrome operator, there was an average delay of 65 minutes in flights departing from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) with 76 per per outbound flights getting affected.

Besides, as many as 44 per cent of the incoming flights were delayed by an average 8 minutes.

Taken together, a total of around 280 flights were affected due to the rains on Wednesday.

The Mumbai Airport, with crossing runways, handles around 1,000 arrivals and departures per day.