BackGoAir under lens for ferrying people instead of cargo
GoAir flight G8 1305 was found to have operated a cargo flight between Chennai and Port Blair as a passenger flightThe GoAir flight was not allowed to land at Port Blair airport since it did not have requisite regulatory clearance, according to a DGCA official
PremiumNew Delhi: The Indian civil aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating no-frill airline GoAir Limited for operating a cargo flight as a passenger flight between Chennai and Port Blair on Tuesday, which resulted in the flight not being allowed to land at the island airport. GoAir flight G8 1305, which was flying in from Chennai on Tuesday afternoon, was not allowed to land at Port Blair airport, after it came into notice that the airline was operating a passenger flight while it was supposed to be operating a cargo flight, said a senior DGCA official, requesting anonymity. "The DGCA is looking into the matter," the official said.
According to the updated flight schedule at the Airports Authority of India (AAI)-operated Veer Savarkar International Airport at Port Blair, G8 1305 is listed as a cargo flight. "GoAir flight G8 1305 from Chennai to Port Blair did an air turn back/ diversion due to operational reasons and landed in Chennai with 160 passengers on board," a GoAir spokesperson said.
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"GoAir has taken outmost care and rendered all the requisite assistance to the passengers," the spokesperson added. However, passengers on board of the GoAir flight on Tuesday said that the airline kept misleading them about the events of the day even after the flight returned back to Chennai.
"We were told by the airline that the flight was unable to land at Port Blair airport as it didn't have proper facilities for covid-19 testings, which was not the case," said Ahmedabad-based Viral Patel, who along with his wife was one of 16 couples from the city to be flying to Port Blair on the airline flight.
"We booked to fly from Ahmedabad to Port Blair on GoAir with the first leg of the flight slated for Monday (14 December) between Ahmedabad and Chennai while the second leg of the flight between Chennai and Port Blair was slated for Tuesday," Viral said adding that initially he was informed that his connecting Port Blair flight was cancelled upon landing at Chennai on Monday.
"Later the airline rescheduled the flight to Port Blair on Tuesday afternoon," Patel said."Though the airline promised us a refund, the whole exercise has resulted in a massive waste of time," Patel added.
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