It has been alleged that passengers on a charter flight form India to the UK were held for over six hours following a fuel stop, until the had stumped up the cost of refuelling.
The flight was chartered by a number of different tour operators. It was being operated by the Austrian Comtel Air. A total of £20,000 pounds was unexpectedly demanded from the passengers on the flight – and the passengers were trapped in the plane on the tarmac until they stumped up the money. Those who did not have enough money on their person were escourted off the plane to cash points.
The flight was en route from Amritsar in India to Birmingham. Amritsar is the home of the Golden Temple, which is the most sacred site to the Sikh religion and attracts more visitors than even the Taj Mahal.
There are said to be further issues with flights being operated by Comtel Air, with some passengers currently stranded. The airline has denied that it is going bust.
Airlines going bankrupt, or bizarre incidents like the one that seems to have occurred in Vienna are one of the holiday makers worst nightmares. Although these kind of problems are relatively rare, they do happen. with the tough times that the travel sector as a whole is going through many airlines could be in trouble.
The advice when booking holidays is to use a tour operator that is registered with ATOL. If something goes wrong they are then honour bound to find a way to get you home. Some travel insurance will also cover you, but this will depend on the policy.
If you are stuck abroad, then it is sometimes possible to get help and advice from consular staff, however there are limits to what they can do. After you get home it may be advisable to contact legal services to see if you could be entitled to compensation for violation of your consumer rights.
