IndiGo flies Patna-bound passenger to Udaipur, DGCA orders probe

In yet another blooper by an airline operator, budget airliner IndiGo reportedly flew a passenger bound for Bihar’s Patna to around 1,400 kilometers from his intended destination- Udaipur in Rajasthan.

According to reports, the passenger was supposed to board an IndiGo flight to Patna, instead he boarded another flight of the same airline bound for Rajasthan’s Udaipur. The incident came to light on January 30 and the passenger was sent to his original destination the next day.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a probe into the incident. In a statement, the regulatory body said that the passenger, Afsar Hussain, had booked a ticket to Patna for Indigo flight 6E-214 and reached Delhi airport on January 30 to board the scheduled flight. But he mistakenly boarded Udaipur-bound flight 6E-319 of Indigo.

The passenger only realised the mistake after landing at Udaipur Airport and informed the airport officials who then alerted IndiGo about the incident.

The passenger was then flown back to Delhi by IndiGo on the same day and then to Patna on January 31.

A DGCA official said that the airline has been asked to submit a report explaining why the boarding pass of the passenger was not scanned thoroughly and how he boarded the wrong flight when as per the rule boarding passes are checked at two points before the boarding.

The official added that appropriate action will be taken against the airline.

IndiGo in a statement on Friday acknowledged the incident and issued an official apology to the aggrieved passenger, adding that the airline is engaged with the authorities on this matter

This is the second such incident reported in an Indigo flight in the last 20 days. On January 13, a passenger who had the airline’s ticket and boarding pass for an Indore-bound flight boarded a wrong flight and was taken to Nagpur airport.