Air passengers began venting their ire on social media as a baggage system failure at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) caused a delay in flights on Sunday. Passengers started questioning Indigo Airlines on Twitter about the delays, some of them complaining about fears of missing their connecting flights or taxis. Others said they missed their flights altogether.
One worried passenger tweeted: “Flight 6e 852 is stranded in Bangalore. Our scheduled departure was 12:40. Can someone please tell us what’s going on? I have a connecting taxi that I will miss. Please tell us what’s up.”
One of the passengers who also sought an explanation on Twitter was author Amish Tripathi. “Very poor service by @IndiGO6E and @BLR Airport. Our team was travelling from Prayagraj for a shoot, and two of our bags have been lost. No proper answers, no solutions offered.”
Another passenger blamed the carrier for the delays. “...Today many people missed their flight to various destination from Bangalore (Bengaluru) because of mismanagement from the Indigo staff. All of us were forced to take the bag tags on our own only from the kiosk of the airport as they didn’t accept printed bagtags (sic),” said the Twitter user.
Indigo, in is response, said the delay was due to baggage belt failure at KIA. “Your flight is facing consequential delay due to baggage belt failure at Bengaluru airport. Our team is trying to get you in the air soon. Please hang in there as your flight is just waiting for the clearance to depart now.”
Later, a press statement from Indigo said, “Owing to the check-in baggage belt failure at Kempegowda International Airport, our flights from Bengaluru are facing delays. We are proactively implementing measures to minimise the impact on other flights. We are also working with BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd.) to resolve this issue. We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers.”
However, BIAL, in a statement, said, “On Sunday, the baggage system at Bengaluru airport failed for a short while but stabilised within a few minutes. The baggage system failure, which lasted for about 15 minutes, seems to have had a cascading effect with Indigo Airlines trying their best to cope. However, this has not impacted the flights or baggage of the other airlines operating at BLR Airport.” It added that that the airport “extended all support to Indigo Airlines.”
A BIAL spokesperson added in a statement, “We are already working closely with our Baggage Handling System partner to check on all factors that could have caused this issue and will have it addressed. We regret the inconvenience that this has caused to passengers,”
In view of the festival season, footfall at the airport has increased and waiting for security checks has increased.