Agitated passengers lay siege to airline counter

Chennai, Dec 23 (UNI) Tension prevailed at the Kamaraj Domestic Airport here today after some passengers of a private airliner laid siege to its counter following a decision not to accomodate all the 86 passengers on the Chennai-Hyderabad-Delhi Flight.

Police said the flight had suffered a delay following fog in Delhi. It landed here at around 1300 hrs against the scheduled 1000 hrs.

The airline staff issued boarding passes only to 65 of the 85 passengers having confirmed ticket for the flight.

The other 21 passengers laid siege to the counter and shouted slogans against the airlines' carelessness.

Heated arguments ensued and on information, police rushed to the spot and pacified the agitated passengers.

The airlines also informed those left out that they would be taken to their destination tonight.

Enquiries showed the Delhi-Hyderabad-Chennai Flight landed here directly instead of coming to Chennai via Hyderabad after suffering heavy delays in Delhi due to fog.

When the flight landed here, all the 65 Chennai passengers alighted from the aircraft.

However, the 21 Hyderabad-bound passengers remained in the flight and refused to disembark. This led to the altercation.

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