Hyderabad, June 17 (Agencies): J.C. Divakar Reddy, the Telugu Desam lawmaker banned by domestic airlines from flying after an airport row on Thursday, took off for Europe on Friday night on his annual family holiday.

According to J.C. Prabhakar Reddy, brother of the Lok Sabha member from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, the holiday was something the family does every year.

“He and his family left for vacation last night. I was also supposed to go along with them. But I could not go due to personal work. What is wrong in his foreign tour? He got his visa long ago. It was not planned yesterday,” Prabhakar Reddy, a TDP member of the legislative assembly, told PTI on Saturday.

Prabhakar Reddy did not disclose the destination or the airline that his brother and his family used on Friday night.

Parliament’s website lists Divakar Reddy’s favourite pastime and recreation as “watching sports and visiting other countries to know their culture”. Among the “countries visited”, are “Africa, Australia, China, European Countries, Hong Kong, Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka, U.K. and U.S.A. etc”

Divakar Reddy, 73, had gotten into an argument with IndiGo staff at Visakhapatnam airport on Thursday morning when he was initially not allowed to board his 6E-608 flight to Hyderabad because he had turned up late.

Check-in counters for domestic flights close 45 minutes before scheduled take off. Divakar Reddy reached with just 28 minutes left, and began arguing. He is said to have thrown down a printer.

Divakar Reddy was finally allowed to take the flight. On Friday, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who is also from the TDP, promised an investigation and said “lawful outcomes” would follow.

IndiGo later banned him from its flights, and other domestic airlines followed suit, making it the second such united move since the action against Shiv Sena member of Parliament Ravindra Gaikwad on March 23 this year.