Passengers on an Air India Express flight from Guwahati to Kolkata went through a rough time after they were asked to get off the plane twice because of a technical problem. They finally reached Kolkata on Sunday afternoon, nearly 18 hours after their original departure time, according to airport officials.
There were 170 people on board flight IX-1226, which was supposed to take off from Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at 9:20 p.m. on Saturday.
The delay began after midnight due to a technical issue. One unhappy passenger shared in a video—now widely circulated on social media—that everyone had to stay inside the plane during that time.
Many videos of the delayed flight started appearing on social platforms, with people saying there was no proper update from the airline. However, PTI said it couldn’t confirm whether the videos were genuine.
“At around 1:30 a.m., we were told to get off and were taken to the lounge,” said the traveller in the video. “Later, we were moved to a very low-quality hotel for the night. They didn’t even serve us breakfast,” he added.
On Sunday morning, the passengers were brought back to the airport and boarded the same plane at around 9:30 a.m. But soon, the captain and crew informed them that the same technical issue was still not fixed.
Once again, they had to deboard. Airline officials then told them a different aircraft would take them to Kolkata. Finally, the passengers flew out of Guwahati at 3:34 p.m. on a new plane. Some passengers chose to fly with other airlines, which Air India Express had offered as an alternative.
An Air India Express spokesperson said that the flight on the Guwahati-Kolkata route had developed a technical problem. He added that a new plane was arranged the next day, which caused a longer delay than expected. He also stated that passengers were offered help—hotel stay, free flight rescheduling, or full refunds.
Responding to the complaint about the poor hotel, an airline official in Guwahati said the passengers were given the best available hotel in the area. He added that airline staff stayed at the same hotel as well.