Dubai: Expatriates travelling to the northern Indian city of Chandigarh on Tuesday said their Diwali celebrations were ruined after their pieces of baggage were left in Dubai.
Many passengers on IndiGo airline flight number 6E 56 were Dubai-based Indians going home with gifts to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, on Thursday.
They told Gulf News that after waiting for around an hour at the baggage belt at the Chandigarh airport on Tuesday morning, they were told their baggage was still in Dubai.
- A passenger
According to passengers, the Indian budget airline said the baggage would arrive on Wednesday and be delivered to their homes or can be collected from the airport. However, for passengers living in other cities, the delivery could take days, they complained.
A comment from Gurgaon-based IndiGo was not available on Tuesday. Gulf News also called and emailed IndiGo’s Dubai office but there was no response, despite repeated attempts.
According to passengers, the affected travellers numbered 70 to 80 people, and included a Dubai family taking their children to their first Diwali celebrations in India. Another was reportedly a patient with “life-saving” medicine in the baggage. Many of the travellers were blue-collar workers going home with Diwali gifts to celebrate the festival with loved ones.
It was not clear how the baggage of several passengers was not on the flight. The flight had departed from Dubai at 5.30am on Tuesday and landed in Chandigarh at 10.30am local time.
On Tuesday, furious passengers crowded around IndiGo staff at the Chandigarh airport demanding an explanation. Gulf News was able to contact some of the affected passengers, who complained the incident had impacted their Diwali plans.
“My Diwali gifts for my family and in-laws, worth Dh3,000, were in my check-in bag. Now I’ll have to spend Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 for shopping again for Diwali in India. This is my daughter’s first Diwali after her wedding and was meant to be especially dear to all of us,” complained one passenger, who did not wish to be named.
“What really surprised me was that when we approached the airline counter [at the Chandigarh airport], they had our Property Irregularity Report [the form given by the airline to the passenger to fill if the baggage goes missing or lost] ready in advance.”
Another passenger, Jasmit Singh, who lives in Kurukshetra city, around 90km from Chandigarh, said he had visited Dubai to shop for Diwali but had returned empty-handed.
“I’m expecting my baggage after a few days — after Diwali — which is almost pointless. The airline told me they would keep me posted with ‘regular updates’ but didn’t say why my baggage was left behind. This has all been a hassle,” Singh said.
