Incident Report
A SpiceJet flight from Dubai to New Delhi landed without the luggage of any of its passengers on Wednesday evening, leaving confused travelers and a sea of empty luggage trolleys at Delhi airport.
Flight Details
The flight, SG-12, carrying 148 passengers, took off at around 12pm UAE time (1.30pm IST) after a short delay and landed at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 5pm India time.
Passenger Reaction
The confusion began when passengers gathered around the conveyor belt and discovered that not a single piece of luggage had made the journey. One passenger, Pratham Chaudhary, stated, "The baggage carousel remained empty. One by one people realized that nothing had arrived." Another passenger, Deepak, shared similar sentiments.
Airline Response
Airline staff reportedly asked passengers to fill out baggage irregularity reports (BIRs) and assured them that their luggage would be flown in on the next available service. Some travelers were later informed that the plane was overweight, forcing the airline to unload all checked baggage. However, many passengers found this explanation difficult to believe, with one passenger, Suhana Bisht, asking, "If the bags were already weighed, how did they know they were overweight after takeoff?"
Previous Incidents
This incident is not the first of its kind for SpiceJet, with reports in Gujarati media stating that the airline has been repeatedly criticized over its baggage handling on international routes.
Recent Disruptions
The incident came barely 24 hours after another disruption at the airline, where a SpiceJet flight from Jaipur to Dubai was delayed for 14 hours and then canceled due to "operational reasons". Passengers on that flight had to wait at Jaipur airport all day without food or accommodation, terming the repeated disruptions as "unacceptable".
