Indian passengers who were stuck at Kuwait airport for more than 19 hours while flying from Mumbai to Manchester, have alleged discrimination while sharing their plight. Passengers alleged that airport authorities told them Indians were not “entitled passport holders” and didn’t provide them either food or help.
As per reports, a Gulf Air aircraft heading to the UK from India made a U-turn and landed at the Kuwait airport following an engine fire incident. While the said aircraft was carrying passengers from various nationalities, discrimination was alleged against those from India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia. Passengers alleged that they were not given access to lounge facilities, while those from the West were given preferential treatment.
Indian media outlet NDTV quoted Arzoo Singh, a passenger, as saying that airport authorities did not respond to their request for lounge access. “I am saying this on live television. They said ‘if you’re entitled passport holders, and Indians and Pakistanis are not entitled passport holders’, they literally told us if you’re entitled for a transit visa, only then we can put you in a hotel outside,” Singh said.
#Kuwait #GulfAir: Anger-fueled fights between passengers and flight operators go viral on social media as passengers on a #Mumbai to #Manchester #flight are left stuck at #KuwaitAirport for 13 hours without food or assistance. Passengers alleges only #Indian passport holders were… pic.twitter.com/Pp6miYR3Fl
— Benefit News (@BenefitNews24) December 1, 2024
“We asked them what about us, people who are not ‘entitled’ as you say? They said we will get back to you. We ran behind them for nearly two hours, only after that we got lounge access. We asked for blankets, we asked for food. They didn’t give. No one even gave us water for the first four hours,” Singh added. As per her account, around 60 passengers suffered the same issue.
The Indian embassy in Kuwait in a post on X on Sunday said they immediately took up the matter with Gulf Air in Kuwait. “Efforts are being made to accommodate passengers in the airport hotel which is currently unavailable due to ongoing GCC Summit. It may be noted that Indian nationals do not fall under visa on arrival facility in Kuwait. All government offices are closed today due to GCC Summit being hosted by Kuwait,” it said.
Embassy @indembkwt had immediately taken up the matter with Gulf Air in Kuwait. A team from Embassy is at the airport to assist the passengers and coordinate with the airline. Passengers have been accommodated in 2 airport lounges. pic.twitter.com/1OySe3KGLc
— India in Kuwait (@indembkwt) December 1, 2024
In a post on Monday morning, the embassy said the flight to Manchester had “finally” departed at 4:34 am. “Embassy team was on the ground till the flight departed,” it said.
Gulf Air has not given a statement on the matter yet.
