Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Dec 18: Passengers of Mangaluru-Bahrain-Kuwait flight are having a harrowing time, with Air India Express, the sole carrier on this route, facing techincal problems resulting in delays of more than a day.
The Air India Express flight IX889 left from Mangaluru to Kuwait via Bahrain on Wednesday December 17, but when it reached Bahrain, it developed technical snags, said Nagesh Shetty, station manager of Air India Express in Mangaluru.
The passengers were stranded as the flight had to be cancelled.
Twenty-nine passengers were flown to Kuwait by Gulf Air, while others were given accomodation in hotels in Bahrain. In the return flight, 70 passengers were supposed to fly from Kuwait to Mangaluru, and 101 from Bahrain, but the flight is yet to take off.
The flight was supposed to reach Mangaluru on Thursday December 17 evening.
Nagesh Shetty said that a team of engineers has been sent via Mumbai and Doha to Bahrain, and the flight is expected to be restored by Friday December 19 morning.
Meanwhile, sources said that some of the stranded passengers protested at Bahrain airport over the inordinate delay. Several passengers who were on their way to Mangaluru on vacation, festivals or to attend family functions were left with no choice but to wait.