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thot such things only happen in China...LOL
Passengers on plane from India to Birmingham forced into £20k whip-round for fuel after they're told 'pay up or you won't get home
Passengers on plane from India to Birmingham forced into £20k whip-round for fuel after they're told 'pay up or you won't get home
By ANDY DOLAN
Created 12:16 PM on 16th November 2011
British airline passengers were forced to stage a giant whip-round and hand over £20,000 in cash after being ‘held to ransom’ by their airline.More than 180 were left stranded on their Boeing 757 when cabin crew announced during a refuelling stop that the Austrian carrier Comtel Air had ‘run out of money’.The plane from Amritsar, in India, was on a stopover at Vienna en route to Birmingham. Passengers were told that the flight would continue only if 23,400 euros (£20,005) was handed over. Otherwise they and their luggage would be removed from the aircraft.
But the sum was eventually raised through a series of promises and IOUs. Passengers said it was feared that another 600 travellers on four planned flights were stranded in India. But details were sketchy last night as few of the companies involved were returning calls.
Comtel Air specialised in executive aviation and owned a Dassault Falcon 2000 business jet. It started the commercial route from the UK to Amritsar only last month, using the leased Boeing 757.
mritsar is home to the Golden Temple, spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion, which attracts more than 100,000 visitors a day – more than the Taj Mahal.
Gurhej Kaur, a blind 80-year-old from Handsworth Wood, was one of the passengers who spent more than 15 hours on the plane while her medication was in the hold.
A 34-year-old relative, Dalvinder Batra, from Oldbury, said: ‘It is absolutely disgusting. There are still people stuck out there. We have been told that the company has gone bust.’ Tarlochan Singh, 57, from Wolverhampton, had been in India for three weeks. He said: ‘They wanted all the money in cash.
‘Everyone was furious, that is why we had the sit-in. We spent more than six hours in Vienna. Nobody has told us anything.’
Satbarg Nijjar was collecting his wife Gurdab Kaur Nijjar after a four-week holiday. The 60-year-old, from Coventry, said: ‘They have been told that they have not paid landing fees or taxes and the company is in financial trouble.’
Company director Kamal Paul, 35, from Kettering, said he was one of a group of ten travelling to the Punjab for a wedding. They were due to return on four different flights but his was the only one that made it home. ‘Our friends are still stuck in Amritsar. They are now starting to resort to other carriers to get home. I’ve spoken to one friend who has just paid £300 for a BMI flight back to London.’
Many of the passengers bought their tickets through Takhar Travel, a travel agent in Smethwick, West Midlands. Police stood guard outside its office last night as angry customers arrived to demand explanations.
Comtel Air’s website was yesterday ‘down for maintenance’. A message told customers to contact Bhupinder Kandra, the firm’s director of air scheduled services.
But the office number posted for him on the site was yesterday described as ‘not listed’, according to a recorded message. Contacted on his mobile phone, Mr Kandra told the Daily Mail he was in a ‘crisis meeting’ and promised to send a statement, although one did not materialise.
A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: ‘Comtel Air has been contracted by a number of UK travel companies to facilitate flights to Amritsar, via Vienna. Comtel Air has a contractual arrangement with an approved airline to operate this service.
‘Clearly, we are very concerned and understand the distress that this is causing. We are urgently investigating the matter to get some clarity going forward.’ He said the airline is registered in Austria and not within the jurisdiction of the Civil Aviation Authority. ‘Anyone due to travel with the airline is advised to contact the travel company they have booked the flights with.
‘Those passengers overseas need to ascertain whether their travel arrangements are protected by the ATOL scheme.’
Created 12:16 PM on 16th November 2011
British airline passengers were forced to stage a giant whip-round and hand over £20,000 in cash after being ‘held to ransom’ by their airline.More than 180 were left stranded on their Boeing 757 when cabin crew announced during a refuelling stop that the Austrian carrier Comtel Air had ‘run out of money’.The plane from Amritsar, in India, was on a stopover at Vienna en route to Birmingham. Passengers were told that the flight would continue only if 23,400 euros (£20,005) was handed over. Otherwise they and their luggage would be removed from the aircraft.
But the sum was eventually raised through a series of promises and IOUs. Passengers said it was feared that another 600 travellers on four planned flights were stranded in India. But details were sketchy last night as few of the companies involved were returning calls.
Comtel Air specialised in executive aviation and owned a Dassault Falcon 2000 business jet. It started the commercial route from the UK to Amritsar only last month, using the leased Boeing 757.
mritsar is home to the Golden Temple, spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion, which attracts more than 100,000 visitors a day – more than the Taj Mahal.
Gurhej Kaur, a blind 80-year-old from Handsworth Wood, was one of the passengers who spent more than 15 hours on the plane while her medication was in the hold.
A 34-year-old relative, Dalvinder Batra, from Oldbury, said: ‘It is absolutely disgusting. There are still people stuck out there. We have been told that the company has gone bust.’ Tarlochan Singh, 57, from Wolverhampton, had been in India for three weeks. He said: ‘They wanted all the money in cash.
‘Everyone was furious, that is why we had the sit-in. We spent more than six hours in Vienna. Nobody has told us anything.’
Satbarg Nijjar was collecting his wife Gurdab Kaur Nijjar after a four-week holiday. The 60-year-old, from Coventry, said: ‘They have been told that they have not paid landing fees or taxes and the company is in financial trouble.’
Company director Kamal Paul, 35, from Kettering, said he was one of a group of ten travelling to the Punjab for a wedding. They were due to return on four different flights but his was the only one that made it home. ‘Our friends are still stuck in Amritsar. They are now starting to resort to other carriers to get home. I’ve spoken to one friend who has just paid £300 for a BMI flight back to London.’
Many of the passengers bought their tickets through Takhar Travel, a travel agent in Smethwick, West Midlands. Police stood guard outside its office last night as angry customers arrived to demand explanations.
Comtel Air’s website was yesterday ‘down for maintenance’. A message told customers to contact Bhupinder Kandra, the firm’s director of air scheduled services.
But the office number posted for him on the site was yesterday described as ‘not listed’, according to a recorded message. Contacted on his mobile phone, Mr Kandra told the Daily Mail he was in a ‘crisis meeting’ and promised to send a statement, although one did not materialise.
A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: ‘Comtel Air has been contracted by a number of UK travel companies to facilitate flights to Amritsar, via Vienna. Comtel Air has a contractual arrangement with an approved airline to operate this service.
‘Clearly, we are very concerned and understand the distress that this is causing. We are urgently investigating the matter to get some clarity going forward.’ He said the airline is registered in Austria and not within the jurisdiction of the Civil Aviation Authority. ‘Anyone due to travel with the airline is advised to contact the travel company they have booked the flights with.
‘Those passengers overseas need to ascertain whether their travel arrangements are protected by the ATOL scheme.’
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