Air India sought to reassure its passengers yesterday that there are no bed bugs in its aircraft after carrying out an extensive fumigation exercise following complaint by some passengers last month. The state-run carrier came under fire in mid-July when business class passengers of Newark-Mumbai flights complained of bed bug crawling on the seats. Messages and disturbing pictures of bed bug bites posted in social media had gone viral.

"#AirIndia affirms that no bedbugs were found after thorough checking of seats, laundry facilities & fumigation of aircrafts following bugbite complaints in some flts. "These unfortunate reports are the first of its kind in our legacy of flying generations of satisfied pax (sic)," it said in a late evening tweet. The latest tweet followed the airline's statement last week which maintained that the incidents of bed bugs reported by passengers in international flights were "isolated" ones even as it had taken a "serious" view of the complaints and carried out an extensive service of the aircraft, including fumigation.