Flight cancelled after 10-hour delay

Meanwhile, Madurai airport gets bomb threat

MADURAI, TAMILNADU, 04/07/2013: A view of Madurai Airport, in Madurai. Photo: G. Moorthy

An international flight from Madurai to Colombo, operated by SpiceJet, was cancelled after 10 hours of delay, leaving passengers stranded in the boarding area on Friday.

According to the passengers, the flight was scheduled to depart from Madurai at 12.50 p.m.

While SpiceJet staff initially announced that the flight would be slightly delayed, there was no proper communication from them subsequently, the passengers claimed.

“At 7.50 p.m., we were informed that the flight has been cancelled due to technical problems,” a passenger who was travelling with her family, said, adding there were around 70 passengers waiting to board the flight. The passengers included at least one who had to rush for a funeral of a close relative and another who had a connecting flight to Qatar on Friday night. Airport sources said the flight, which operated as a domestic flight from Hyderabad to Madurai and then as an international flight from Madurai to Colombo, developed a technical glitch while landing at Madurai airport.“Attempts to rectify the issue failed,” a SpiceJet executive, speaking on anonymity, said. The executive added that an alternative flight would be arranged on Saturday morning. Agitated passengers attempted to gherao SpiceJet staff.

Bomb threat

Meanwhile, around 7.15 p.m., Madurai City Police control room received a bomb threat to a flight in Madurai airport.

According to a senior police official, the caller, who identified himself as Ramasamy, claimed that he overheard two persons discussing that a bomb was to explode in a flight departing from Madurai Airport on Saturday morning.

Madurai SP N. Manivannan said airport authorities, including Central Industrial Security Force, had been alerted. “We will provide all assistance to them as required. Meanwhile, we are also trying to track the caller. The phone remains switched off,” he added.