AI's goof-up made me miss Dubai flight: Flyer

An embattled Air India, which has been facing a sustained attack from its own staff over corruption and disparity in salary, is now in for fresh trouble with passengers raising serious questions about the functioning of the national carrier.

Take the case of Bharat Puranik, an Ahmedabad resident who booked an Air India flight for Dubai via Mumbai on May 6, but never reached his destination allegedly because of Air India officials' fault.

He boarded a Mumbai-bound flight from Ahmedabad on the morning of May 6, as he had to catch an afternoon flight to Dubai from there. "Everything was fine at the Ahmedabad airport.

But, when I reached the emigration counter of the Mumbai airport, I was informed by officials that my passport did not have the Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) stamp andu00a0 hence I would not be able to conduct the journey.
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They also said that the airline should have checked the ECNR stamp before issuing the ticket," Puranik told MiD DAY.

Puranik's nightmare did not end there. When he approached his booking agent for claiming a refund from the airline, the agent assured Puranik that he would get the refund within a week.

Later, the agent informed Puranik that the airline had refused to refund the airfare as he had already conducted a journey from Ahmedabad to Mumbai for which the fare was Rs 11,000 more than the original fare, Rs 9,800.

"I had paid Rs 9,800 for an Ahmedabad-Dubai flight. But I was surprised by Air India's reply in which it refused to refund the airfare saying that I had already availed the services from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, which was worth Rs 11,000, more than the actual fare," he added

"If the airline had informed me earlier about the ECNR, I would have got the same from the department concerned.

I missed my Dubai flight, lost my money and faced many inconveniences for no fault of mine. Air India is quoting an astronomical fare only because it does not want to admit its mistake and refund the amount," he said.

The Other Side
When contacted, an AIu00a0 spokesperson said he was not aware of the incident and would have to verify the same from the department concerned