Lucknow: A woman and her husband were detained and later released on a personal bond after an alleged altercation with a ground staff member of Akasa Air at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, officials said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred on Tuesday while Flight QP 1525 was preparing to depart for Mumbai.
The couple had arrived at the airport late, and as a result, they were denied boarding for their flight.
In their fury over the situation, the woman resorted to physical aggression, slapping a female staff member of the airline.
Following a written complaint from Nimisha Sharma, the customer service associate of Akasa Air, the Sarojini Nagar police booked the couple under non-cognisable offenses under IPC Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Insult intended to provoke a breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation). However, they were released on a personal bond.
"A female passenger physically assaulted an Akasa Air partner employee at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow on August 1. The passenger was travelling to Mumbai but was denied permission to board the flight since she reported late to the airport. An FIR has been registered at the Sarojini Nagar police station and further investigations are underway," an airline spokesperson said.
"The Mumbai-bound flight was set to depart at 5.05 p.m., and the last boarding was closed at 4.08 p. But the couple along with their children arrived at 4.18 p.m. and asked for a boarding pass. By that time, the flight doors were closed, and I communicated to the couple our inability to allow them to continue their journey”, said Nimisha who was slapped on the face.
“If the passengers had web checked-in, we could have telephoned them and dealt with them accordingly. But they didn’t do it and were eventually declared ‘no- show passengers’. Consequently, the boarding was closed as per the rules and regulations of flight operations”, Nimisha told the Times of India.