India: SpiceJet flyers walk on airport tarmac after waiting for bus for 45 minutes

A significant number of passengers who disembarked from SpiceJet's Hyderabad-Delhi flight on Saturday night walked on the airport's tarmac as the airline could not provide a bus for around 45 minutes to take them to the terminal, sources said.

Aviation regulator DGCA is investigating the incident, sources told PTI on Sunday.

Spicejet, however, said there was a brief delay in the arrival of coaches, and once the buses came, all the passengers, including those who had started walking, travelled on them from the tarmac to the terminal building.

"Despite repeated requests from our staff, a few passengers started walking towards the terminal. They had barely walked a few metres when the coaches arrived. All passengers, including those who had started walking, travelled on the coaches to the terminal building Passengers are not allowed to walk on the Delhi airport's tarmac area as it is a security risk. There is a demarcated path on the tarmac for vehicles only.

Therefore, the airlines use buses to take passengers from terminal to aircraft or vice versa using the demarcated path.

Currently, SpiceJet is operating not more than 50 per cent of its flights as per the orders of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The regulator had in July imposed the curb on the airline's flights for a period of eight weeks as its planes were involved in at least eight incidents of technical malfunction in the June 19-July 5 period.

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"Despite repeated requests from our staff, a few passengers started walking towards the terminal. They had barely walked a few metres when the coaches arrived. All passengers, including those who had started walking, travelled on the coaches to the terminal building," the airline mentioned.