Passenger comes late, flight delayed

A Chennai-Mumbai flight was delayed by 10 minutes on Sunday morning, as a passenger came late and also due to a sudden customs check, sources said. The IndiGo flight had to depart by 5.20 a.m. and the boarding passes were issued till about 4.30 a.m. But the passenger came 10 minutes later and demanded he be issued the pass, sources said. When the airline staff refused to issue him the pass, he reportedly threw a fit and shouted, saying, the flight cannot depart without him. Sometime later, a customs official reportedly came to carry out a sudden check of the aircraft. “It was surprising to see a customs official checking a domestic flight, which they usually never do,” an official said.

The flight then departed by 5.30 a.m. That passenger took the next flight to Mumbai. Customs officials said, they were not aware of such an incident and noted that flights never get delayed because of them. “We carry out checks only if the aircraft flew from an international destination to Chennai and was then used for a domestic operation. [This is to check] in case of any smuggling of gold or other items. But we never delay any flight,” he said.