IndiGo offloads ‘unruly’ passenger from Lucknow-Bengaluru flight after he complains of mosquitoes

A passenger was on Tuesday morning offloaded from an IndiGo Airlines flight for alleged unruly behaviour on the aircraft. The passenger, Saurabh Rai, was removed from the aircraft which was scheduled to fly from Lucknow to Bengaluru.

Releasing a statement in this regard, IndiGo said, “A passenger, Saurabh Rai, scheduled to fly this morning from Lucknow to Bengaluru, was offloaded on grounds of unruly behaviour.”

According to the airline, the passenger had “expressed concerns over mosquitos on board”. The airline claimed that before cabin crew could address his concerns, he became aggressive and used threatening language.

“As matter escalated after closure of the aircraft doors, he attempted to instigate other passengers on board to damage the aircraft and used words such as ‘hijack’. Hence, keeping in mind applicable safety protocols crew apprised pilot-in-command, who decided to offload him,” said IndiGo in a statement.

The passenger, however, claimed that he was manhandled by IndiGo crew members when he raised the issue of mosquitoes in the aircraft. "The Indigo flight from Lucknow to Bengaluru was full of mosquitoes, when I raised objection, I was manhandled by the crew and offloaded from the aircraft, I was even threatened," he said.

This comes almost 10 days after a man was offloaded from an Air Vistara aircraft at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and later arrested for allegedly molesting a crew member.

Releasing a statement in this regard, Air Vistara had said, "A cabin crew member on Lucknow-Delhi flight on 24th March reported incident of sexual harassment by a passenger. Vistara does not tolerate abusive or unruly behaviour by passengers that puts safety of its staff and other customers at risk, or compromises their dignity."