From Kolkata to Delhi in 16 hours, 20 mins

New Delhi: Against the scheduled two and a half hours, it took the S2-303 Air Sahara flight around 17 hours to reach New Delhi from Kolkata. After taking off from Kolkata at 7.40 pm yesterday, the plane was scheduled to arrive in New Delhi at around 10 pm last night, but it finally landed this noon.
The pilot was reportedly directed by the air traffic control of the Delhi Airport not to land because of poor visibility.
The plane was then taken to Lucknow airport for landing, but with no accommodation arranged for the passengers the flight was taken back to Kolkata, said the passengers. The flight reached from where it started at around 3.30 this morning. As if this was not enough, the airlines staff refused to arrange accommodation for the passengers.
The airline allegedly asked people who booked their tickets from Kolkata itself to go home and come back next day, not realising that many of them were tourists and didn’t belong to the city.
However, on persistence, some of the passengers were finally given accommodation in Hyatt Regency, Kolkata, along with the taxi fare.
Similar harassment were seen with passengers on other routes as well. With the backlog getting longer and passengers getting impatient, the airlines and airport staff are having a tough time convincing the passengers for the delays caused and arranging alternate flights.
27/12/06 Harleen Bhatti/Delhi Newsline

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline