It was a relief for 400 Indian flyers who were stuck at Turkey’s Istanbul Airport for at least two days after their flights — belonging to the Indian airline company IndiGo — were delayed.
As per latest reports, flights to India’s national capital, Delhi, and financial capital, Mumbai, have finally departed. While IndiGo officials have apologised for the delay, passengers have come hard on the airline company.
The delay was a result of a technical snag, reports said. The Istanbul to Delhi flight, which was scheduled to take off at 8.10 pm on December 12, was initially delayed to December 13 at 1.30 pm. Passengers complained they were left at the facility with little information or support from IndiGo staff.
Similarly, the Istanbul-Mumbai flight was originally set to depart at 8.15 pm on December 12. This was later pushed to 11.00 pm on the same day, and revised further to 10 am on December 13.
#BreakingNews: #IndiGo flights stranded at #Istanbul airport take off, officials apologize for delayed service
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) December 14, 2024
400 Indian passengers were grounded @nikhil_lakhwani shares more details#Aviation | @aayeshavarma pic.twitter.com/6jvv4LePKI
Soon, angry passengers took to social media to report the issue and vent their anger.
Many also called for refunds, which some questioned the airline’s behaviour, stating that the airline’s customer care wasn’t reachable.
Shame on @IndiGo6E Indigo flight , from past 35 hrs there are more than 500 people waiting for flight in ISTANBUL airport,but still they are not able to board us on flight even after paying lakhs to travel . They are not even providing Accommodation and food …#indigo pic.twitter.com/gkQPXEgqhM
— just Koushik (@koushikbhuma) December 13, 2024
Chaos at Istanbul airport due to indigo flight grounded for more than 2 days. More than 800 people are stuck. @MoCA_GoI @narendramodi @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/2IUHKpJ9uQ
— Jitendra Rai (@ait_jitendra) December 13, 2024
Shame! Indigo and Turkish airlines, this is appalling! We are stranded at Istanbul airport with our forward plans and bookings at Edinburg destroyed for day through no fault of ours. There are other passengers. @IndiGo6E @TurkishAirlines pic.twitter.com/pIK5W18Njr
— Richa S Mukherjee (@richasmukherjee) July 18, 2024
First time to India and stranded at the Istanbul airport for the last 24 hours because the Indigo flight keeps cancelling.
— Sara Filipcic (@filipc_sara) December 13, 2024
No food. No clarity. No representative. No compensation. Pathetic treatment. @DGCAIndia @MoCA_GoI @IndiGo6E @TurkishAirlines @igairportcity
IndiGo, on its part, blamed everything on the technical issue, while stating that stuck customers were provided with refreshments and accommodation, where possible. In its official statement, the airline said: “Due to technical issues, IndiGo flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Istanbul experienced delays. This led to cascading delays in the return sectors. All necessary steps were taken to ensure customers were apprised, and they were provided with refreshments and accommodation, where possible. We regret the inconvenience caused to customers and appreciate their understanding and patience.”
This incident doesn’t bode well for the India’s largest airline. In the 2024 global rankings released by AirHelp, a European Union claims processing agency, IndiGo ranked 103rd out of 109 airlines.
