(Image source: Sky News)
BY EMOKE BEBIAK
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
Airline passengers are used to paying extra for checking bags, snacks and in-flight entertainment. But how about paying for fuel? Travellers on a charter flight from India to the UK had to cough up an extra $31,000 to refuel their plane in Vienna. Channel 4 News reports...
“Weary passengers on a flight home to Birmingham from India, a routine stop in Vienna and then they were given this astonishing demand: ‘We need some money to pay the fuel, the pay the airport, to pay everything we need... If you want to go to Birmingham, you have to pay. We can’t do anything else.’”
In the end, each passenger handed over 150 Euros, that’s about $200. The Guardian reports passengers say they were “held ransom” on the tarmac in Vienna for six hours until they paid. And they needed to pay in cash, of course. A passenger tells the BBC...
"If we didn't have the money they were making us go one by one outside in Vienna to get the cash out."
The charter flight was operated by the Austrian Comtel Air. According to ABC News, the airline’s director of passenger services says,
“I have heard what happened. It shouldn’t have happened, and I will investigate why it happened... The people who had to pay the money will receive a refund.”
But passengers have not seen that refund yet. According to the Independent, the airline cancelled all flights from India to the UK for the weekend, sparking rumors that it’s going broke. But a Comtel spokesperson says the company isn’t going bankrupt...
“There is no chance of that. Comtel is a very strong company, 16 years in Vienna.”
But a Birmingham Airport spokesperson warns passengers...
“Anyone due to travel with the airline is advised to contact the travel company they have booked the flights with for advice... We expect the airline to clarify the situation regarding its flight programme going forward within the next few days.”
With the flights canceled for the weekend, several passengers are now stranded in India.
