Air India Express Faces Surat Passenger Backlash

SURAT : A passenger dispute at Surat International Airport has put Air India Express under scrutiny after three travellers, including a foreign woman, were allegedly denied boarding a Surat-Bengaluru flight despite reaching the boarding gate before departure. A video of the confrontation has since gone viral on social media, with passengers questioning the airline’s handling of boarding and customer complaints.

According to passenger Tarun Mishra, the flight was originally scheduled for 3:30 pm but was later rescheduled to 6:38 pm. Mishra said he reached the airport between 5:40 pm and 5:50 pm and reached the final boarding gate at around 6:15 pm after completing entry formalities.

Mishra alleged that instead of helping the passengers, airline staff and a manager argued with them for around 15 minutes while the boarding gate remained open.

He claimed the passengers were ultimately denied entry and the gate was closed in front of them.

“The gate was still open while the argument was going on. Had the manager helped us instead of arguing, all three passengers could have boarded the flight,” Mishra said in his account of the incident.

One of the passengers was reportedly a foreign woman who became distressed after the disruption affected her onward travel plans.

The passengers alleged that neither airport authorities nor CISF personnel were responsible for the incident and blamed the airline staff for refusing to accommodate them.

With an urgent engagement in Bengaluru, Mishra said he had to travel by taxi from Surat to Ahmedabad and take an early morning flight to reach Bengaluru.

“Passengers buy tickets with their hard-earned money and deserve basic courtesy and assistance,” a passenger said in the video, while questioning the manner in which the situation was handled.

The video reportedly crossed 8 million views on social media within hours, with users sharing similar experiences involving airline boarding procedures.

The incident has renewed questions over passenger assistance, communication and boarding practices, although the allegations in the viral video have not been independently verified.