Passengers arrive at Mumbai airport, luggage stays back in Bengaluru

Passengers were asked to fill up forms regarding the missing luggage and told they will receive it on Monday. Pic/Hanif Patel

Around 40 passengers on an Indigo Airlines flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai were told their checked-in baggage had not arrived, when they landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Sunday. A few of them had medical documents and were in Mumbai for medical emergencies, while others had their valuables in it, said a passenger from the flight which landed around 7.19 pm..

They were asked to fill up forms regarding the missing luggage and told they will receive it on Monday at the addresses they mentioned in them. An Airlines spokesperson later said there was an issue with the baggage belt at the Bengaluru airport.

Told about luggage after long wait

The general manager of a private firm, Arpit Lalani, 33, from Vasai, who travelled on the 6E 295 Indigo flight on Sunday, told mid-day that around 40 passengers were kept waiting for their check-in luggage at the conveyor belt for 30 minutes until they approached the airline staff to inquire.

"An Indigo staffer told us that our bags will not reach today as they were not loaded at Bengaluru airport. We were asked to fill up a form but most of the passengers did not even have pens with them," Lalani said. The panicked passengers even sat on the floor to fill up the forms as no chairs were available.

Pic/Hanif Patel

"In a few minutes, the airline staff got us pens to fill up the form. Many sat on the floor to do so. Since passengers had booked cabs from the airport to their destinations, the drivers had also begun to call them to start the ride. It was a complete mess at the airport, just because of the mismanagement of Indigo Airlines," he said.

Lalani further added that a female passenger also started to cry. "She told me that she had the medical documents of a relative and needed them urgently to start the medical treatment. Just imagine how difficult it was for her to cope with the situation," he added.

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Sources at the Mumbai international airport told mid-day many passengers traveling in more Indigo flights from Bengaluru to the city also did not receive their checked-in baggage at the conveyor belt.

Pic/Hanif Patel

'Was told Airlines is short-staffed'

Lalani agreed and also said, "At Bengaluru airport, the airline staff did not weigh our baggage at the time of checking-in. We were asked to paste the luggage tags on our belongings and hand them over to the staff. This was something unusual as the check-in baggage is always weighed. After a brief enquiry at the Bengaluru airport, I learnt that Indigo Airlines is short staffed these days. There was pile of baggage at the Bengaluru airport."

There were also a few passengers who had their connecting flights after a few hours layover at CSMIA. They have been promised by the airlines staff that they will receive a call on Monday and their belongings will be delivered at the addresses mentioned in the forms they filled up.

Indigo Airlines said there was an issue with the baggage belt at the Bengaluru airport. An Indigo Airlines spokesperson 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 minimize the impact on other flights. We are also working with BIAL to resolve this issue. We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers."