Bengaluru, 8 May

Hundreds of passengers were left stranded in Bengaluru due to the sudden cancellation of Air India Express flights after its staffers went on protest, on Wednesday.

 At least 16 flights were cancelled affecting trips to Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat, Bahrain, Lucknow, Gwalior, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Thiruvananthapuram from Kempegowda International Airport. The unannounced abrupt cancellation caused chaos and distress.

P Krishna Kumar, a marketing manager in Sharjah told Salar News that he had flown down to Bengaluru for a vacation and was scheduled to fly back on Wednesday. “My flight was scheduled for 11.30pm on Tuesday, and when I reached the airport, I was told the flights had been cancelled. I have no option but to wait for a day or two for the strike to be called off or fly with another airline, which will be expensive.”

As news of the flight cancellations spread, ticket prices of other airlines went up. Passengers had no option but to book expensive tickets to get back to their jobs.

Passengers on the affected flights mainly to the Gulf were given the option to either reschedule their trip for a later date or cancel the flight and get a full refund.

Some took to X to slam the airlines for their inadequate service and customer care. In a video shared on X, one person said his visa was going to expire in two days and that he needed to get back to the UAE immediately. In the same video, another flyer said he had a job interview on Thursday and was worried he would miss it.

Meanwhile, the airlines took to X to apologise for the inconvenience.

Salar News had earlier reported that Air India Express in the City does not have a functioning offline office or a contact person. When contacted by Salar News in March, the Air India officials had no information about their subsidiary airlines. "Without any information, Air India Express has cancelled the flight and there is no alternative also arranged. How to proceed further, PNR Q8RRSN, BLR TO VNS. When will I get the refund? I trusted @AirIndiaX after TATA taking over now I regret,” a user @hemanthkumar_21 posted on X. —Salar News