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Surat-Bangkok flight did not run out of liquor, say Air India Express officials: report
Air India Express officials dismissed reports of a Surat to Bangkok flight running out of alcohol on Friday.
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The inaugural Air India Express flight between Surat and Bangkok has made headlines for a strange reason, with several reports claiming passengers on the flight drank so much that the crew ran out of alcohol onboard. However, these claims were denied by Air India Express officials.
Air India Express' inaugural four-hour flight from Surat in Gujarat to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, took off on Friday with 175 passengers and six crew members.
Soon after the plane landed in Bangkok, videos of passengers claiming that the budget airline ran out of alcohol during the four-hour flight emerged online. These claims were picked up by several news websites.
A report in the Times of India said that the aircraft had 15 litres of premium alcohol worth over ₹1.8 lakh. Alcohol stock was exhausted before the flight landed in Bangkok, the report claimed.
Liquor stock not exhausted
Air India Express officials denied reports of alcohol running out during the flight, reported news agency PTI.
Officials of the budget airline on Sunday said there were brisk sales of alcohol on the flight from Surat to Bangkok and the stock was not exhausted, as claimed by some on social media.
There was sufficient stock of liquor as well as food onboard, the officials added.
The Air India Express officials said that as a general rule of thumb, a passenger is not served more than 100 ml of alcohol during a flight.
The airline offers five types of liquor onboard. A 50 ml of Chivas Regal is priced at ₹600 while 50 ml each of Red Label, Bacardi White Rum and Beefeater Gin cost ₹400. It also offers 330 ml Bira Lager for ₹400.
The Tata Group-owned Air India Express has not issued an official statement in the matter.
(With inputs from PTI)
