Chaos at Pune Airport: Passengers 'seated on carpets' after 7-hour delay, reboarding flight

Delays at Delhi airport also caused a ripple effect on flights to and from Pune, with most flights being delayed by three to five hours.

Around 200 passengers aboard an Air India Express flight (IX-1176) from Delhi to Pune were made to sit on the aircraft for over seven-and-a-half hours before being deboarded and asked to go through the security check process again, according to a report by Times of India (TOI).

The flight, initially scheduled to depart from Delhi at 9:40 pm on Friday and arrive in Pune at 11:50 pm, was delayed significantly. The plane eventually took off from Delhi at 7:30 am on Saturday, and Pune resident Ambadas Gawande, who was aboard with his family, said the flight finally landed in Pune around 10:00 am—more than 10 hours later than its scheduled arrival time.

Gawande shared with TOI, “First, there was a delay of half-an-hour. All passengers boarded the aircraft by 10 pm on Friday. When the aircraft didn’t fly even after an hour, flyers asked the crew members what was the problem. One of them said visibility was a major problem because of fog. Some flyers lost their cool after patiently sitting in the aircraft for more than two hours.”

The situation worsened as the passengers were kept seated for over seven hours without a clear explanation. “The cabin crew told the passengers to be seated, assuring them that the plane would be in the air soon. But it never happened. Many passengers, mostly senior citizens, wanted to go back to the terminal building to sit and rest comfortably. But that was not to be. There were frequent arguments between flyers and the crew members,” Gawande added.

At 5:30 am on Saturday, passengers were suddenly told to deboard due to a technical issue with the aircraft. Gawande described the chaotic situation: “After coming out of the plane, we were huddled into buses. The vehicles moved around the area for a while and dropped us at the terminal building. Then we were told to go through the security check again. The whole thing took around two hours. Surprisingly, we boarded the same aircraft again.”

The delay was part of a wider issue at Pune airport, where operations were significantly impacted by low visibility and fog, with over 32 flights delayed between midnight and noon on Saturday. Delays at Delhi airport also caused a ripple effect on flights to and from Pune, with most flights being delayed by three to five hours.

A passenger flying from Pune to Delhi described the chaotic scene at the Pune airport: “With almost all flights delayed, it was total chaos in the security check area. The new terminal building isn’t equipped to handle so much crowd. People had to stand for hours for their flights. There was no proper communication from the airlines, which worsened the situation.”

Hashim Ansari, a passenger at Pune airport at 6 am, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video of the scene: "No proper facilities to sit and rest. People are seated on carpets."