TDP Member of Parliament J.C. Diwakar Reddy has been banned by all domestic airlines from flying following his alleged unruly behaviour at the Visakhapatnam airport after being denied boarding for an IndiGo flight. An enquiry would be ordered, said Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
Full-service carrier Vistara and budget airlines GoAir and AirAsia India on Friday barred Mr. Reddy from their flights.
Air India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways followed IndiGo on Thursday, which imposed the flying ban on him.
Mr. Raju on Friday said in a tweet, “I will get the entire incident at the Vizag airport enquired into to find out the exact details and ensure that lawful outcomes follow.”
The Minister denied a media report that he had intervened to ensure that Mr. Reddy was allowed to board the IndiGo flight. There was “no such intervention,” he said.
Show of unity
All major domestic airlines took similar action after the incident involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad earlier this year .
“After careful consideration of the various issues and ramifications of the actions of Mr. Reddy, GoAir has also taken a decision of not accepting any further bookings for the said passenger,” the airline said in a statement.
On Thursday, Mr. Reddy was scheduled to fly IndiGo’s flight 6E-608, which departs from Visakhapatnam at 8.10 a.m., to Hyderabad.
But he reached just 28 minutes before the scheduled departure, according to the airline.
As per norms laid out by the aviation regulator, airlines close check-in counters for all domestic fights 45 minutes prior to departure.
Mr. Reddy — who allegedly vandalised the Air India office at the Gannavaram airport in Vijayawada last year after he missed a flight — got into a verbal spat with the ground staff and threw a printer kept at the airline’s counter after he was informed that boarding for his flight had closed.
