SINGAPORE (Commonwealth Union)_ IndiGo flight bound for Bengaluru from Singapore had to return to Singapore’s Changi airport due to a baggage error.
After forgetting to put an elderly couple on their connecting flight a few weeks ago, India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, experienced another mishap when it failed to offload all the baggage from an international flight. The flight had to return to Changi airport after takeoff as the luggage had not been offloaded. The airline admitted the error and apologized to passengers. Passengers however, expressed their frustration and criticized the airline for the mismanagement. IndiGo operates nearly 2,000 flights daily and is the busiest airline in India flying the maximum number of people in and out of the country on a standalone basis.
The service partner of India’s biggest airline, an IndiGo flight from Singapore to Bengaluru – returned after take-off to Singapore Changi International Airport on Wednesday morning after it had flown midway since it had not offloaded baggage from a previous international trip.
In response to the incident, the airline acknowledged the baggage error and attributed it to a service partner’s oversight at Singapore airport. Passengers were miffed at being made to suffer over a four-hour delay in reaching Bengaluru due to the goof-up.
Flight No. 6E 1006, has a regular departure time of 5.40 am (local time) from Singapore, and was scheduled to reach Kempegowda International Airport at 7.20 am.
According to flight tracker websites, the flight took off from Changi airport around the regular scheduled time and after flying for nearly 80 minutes returned to the originating airport at 6.57 am.
It only reached Bengaluru at 11.44 am on Wednesday after having a second take-off from Changi airport at 10.12 am.
An official release from Indigo said, “We acknowledge the baggage error on the part of our service partners at Singapore airport due to which the flight returned to the origin-destination.”
In a statement, the airline expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and
they acknowledged the baggage error on the part of their service partner at Singapore airport with respect to flight 6E 1006 operating from Singapore to Bengaluru, due to which the flight returned to origin. They stated that the passengers were kept informed of the delay and served refreshments.
Some social media users had complained about the incident.
A user on X, tagging IndiGo, said, “Congratulations on achieving the impossible… Singapore Bengaluru flight at 5 40 am made to turn back coz you guys forgot to offload luggage from incoming flight”, while another X user stated there was mismanagement at Singapore airport.
The user said there was horrible mismanagement at Singapore airport. 6E1006 was in the air for 1.5 hours, from SIN to BLR, landed back in Singapore because you all mixed up baggages of various flights!!!”
Irate passengers took to venting their grievances on X. A flyer, Arvin Sahni posted on X: “Congratulations on achieving the impossible. Singapore Bengaluru flight at 5.40 am made to turn back coz you guys forgot offload luggage from the incoming flight,” also hitting out at the lack of correct information from Indigo.
Another flyer named Anjlin posted : “Indigo6E, horrible mismanagement at Singapore airport.” And stated that 6E 1006 was in the air for 1.5 hours, from SIN to BLR, and landed back in Singapore because baggage of various flights was mixed up by them, stating, “Passengers in an early morning flight, already sleep deprived, are being harassed!”
This incident follows another oversight in Istanbul, where the airline forgot to put an elderly couple on their connecting flight to India at Istanbul airport a few weeks ago.
