Stranded passengers complain of being fleeced by Air India

Stranded passengers returning home from crisis-hit Egypt today complained that Air India (AI) charged hefty amounts for a one-way ticket to Mumbai but the state -owned airline justified fares as high as Rs 45,000 claiming it only “recovered costs”.

The one-way flight from Cairo to Mumbai cost the passengers between Rs 45,000 and Rs 55,000 as stranded fliers alleged they had to shell out almost more than double the cost of a single ticket for the sector. “The airline has charged fares as high as $980 (Rs 43,000). No doubt they have done a good job by rescuing us from the chaos in Cairo, but charging such exorbitant fares in such a situation is not at all justified,” said Vineet Ahuja, who landed at the Mumbai international airport this morning.

In the wake of complaints that passengers were charged exorbitantly, the airline said the special flights were not designated by the government as ‘evacuation flights’, where the cost could have been nominal or even free. Air India clarified the airline only recovered costs and did not make “huge profits” as alleged by some passengers.

“Air India would like to clarify that it only recovered costs and not made any “huge profits” as alleged/ propagated in some quarters. The exercise, initiated on the government’s advice, was aimed to assist stranded Indian passengers in Egypt,” an Air India spokesperson said.

The government carrier has always positively responded to such emergencies, the spokesperson said, adding, to make the Cairo operation a success, AI had to withdraw one of its aircraft between Mumbai and Cochin and reschedule its flights to Dammam and Jeddah.

“Air India also ferried passengers who ‘gave an undertaking to pay the air-fare’ on their arrival in India,” the spokesperson added. The reason quoted by Air India for charging such high fares  was that the two flights which brought back over 550 passengers were operated on a commercial basis.