A Port Blair-bound Air India flight today took off without 25 passengers carrying tickets as the plane did not have the capacity to seat them, triggering protests by the travellers.
The airliner usually uses a 145-seater aircraft but today the plane was smaller with 120 seats, Air India officials said.
Airport sources said Air-India's Kolkata-Port Blair flight left at 5.35 am without taking the passengers from NSC
Bose international airport here.
Following this, the passengers launched an agitation at the airport.
Air-India officials said a few of the left-out passengers would be sent by a JetLite flight to Port Blair and the rest would be provided accommodation in a hotel and taken tomorrow.
A similar incident happened last evening when Jet Airways switched to a smaller aircraft for its Kolkata-Agartala flight. It ended up with 10 passengers in excess and left them at the airport, sources said.