No AC on IndiGo flight, passengers given tissues to wipe sweat, says Congress leader; Airline reacts

Punjab Congress Committee’s President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring took to Twitter to share “one of the most horrifying experiences while travelling from Chandigarh to Jaipur on an IndiGo aircraft 6E7261”. He shared a video of passengers fanning themselves with newspapers as the aircraft’s air conditioner (AC) was not was not working.

Punjab Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring shared his “one of the most horrifying experiences while traveling from Chandigarh to Jaipur on an IndiGo aircraft 6E7261”. He said in a social media post that the flight's 90 minutes were dreadful for the passengers since they were forced to wait inside the plane without air conditioning. The Congress leader lamented it, claiming that after forcing passengers to wait in line for around 10-15 minutes in the sweltering heat, the aeroplane took off without the ACs on.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “We were made to wait for about 10-15 minutes in the queue in the scorching sun and when we entered the Plane, to our shock, the ACs weren't working and the flight took off without the ACs on!"

"No one addressed the serious concern during the flight. In fact, the air hostess ‘generously’ distributed tissue papers to the passengers to wipe off their sweat," he added.

The footage showed passengers fanning themselves with tissues and papers. He tagged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) and urged them to take strict action against the airline.

In a press statement issued on Sunday, IndiGo Airlines expressed regret over the incident and issued an apology for the “inconvenience" faced by the passengers. IndiGo has apologised to passengers after they flagged an extremely uncomfortable hour-long flight with the aircraft's air-conditioning turned off - in peak summer - due to a technical issue. It said that after landing in Jaipur, the aircraft's air conditioning equipment was examined. According to the statement from IndiGo, the aircraft was "released for subsequent flights after thorough inspections and corrections."

This is the third time that an IndiGo flight has experienced a technical issue. On Friday, an engine failure on an IndiGo aircraft headed for Delhi necessitated an emergency landing at Patna airport.