Xestan
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Air India passengers paid inflated fares to return from Egypt?
Some passengers who returned from Egypt on the special Air India flight claimed they were made to pay fares more than the normal rates.
'When I went there, I booked return tickets for me and my wife for Rs. 56,000. And now we are being told on no basis that we have to pay Rs. 45,000 per head, else we can't fly on this plane. There was no formal documentation or invoice. They had put up a board which stated that we had to pay $980. The Japanese and Turkish governments had flown out their citizens free of cost. We couldn't even see the US and UK citizens after ten hours, they had been completely evacuated. There was so much chaos. We did not have any other option. It was literally like being blackmailed, we were told that we would have to pay, else they could not do anything," said Vineet Ahuja, a businessman.
However, reacting to such claims, Air India sources said the airline has to charge commercial rates as the special flight cost was not borne by the government.
They added that since the airline has no scheduled operations to Cairo or Egypt, it has no listed fares and that it had to pull out planes from regular operations as it was requested by the Foreign Ministry.
According to travel agents, most airlines flying to Egypt - like Emirates or Qatar - have a system fare or a published fare between Rs. 45,000 and Rs. 47,000.
Egypt crisis: Second special flight brings back 128 more Indians to Mumbai
Some passengers who returned from Egypt on the special Air India flight claimed they were made to pay fares more than the normal rates.
'When I went there, I booked return tickets for me and my wife for Rs. 56,000. And now we are being told on no basis that we have to pay Rs. 45,000 per head, else we can't fly on this plane. There was no formal documentation or invoice. They had put up a board which stated that we had to pay $980. The Japanese and Turkish governments had flown out their citizens free of cost. We couldn't even see the US and UK citizens after ten hours, they had been completely evacuated. There was so much chaos. We did not have any other option. It was literally like being blackmailed, we were told that we would have to pay, else they could not do anything," said Vineet Ahuja, a businessman.
However, reacting to such claims, Air India sources said the airline has to charge commercial rates as the special flight cost was not borne by the government.
They added that since the airline has no scheduled operations to Cairo or Egypt, it has no listed fares and that it had to pull out planes from regular operations as it was requested by the Foreign Ministry.
According to travel agents, most airlines flying to Egypt - like Emirates or Qatar - have a system fare or a published fare between Rs. 45,000 and Rs. 47,000.
Egypt crisis: Second special flight brings back 128 more Indians to Mumbai