A 59-year-old woman who was in Goa with friends on holiday was stuck at the airport after her IndiGo flight to Calcutta was cancelled.

She finally took a bus, travelled overnight to Mumbai, and boarded a flight to Calcutta the next day, paying ₹40,000 for one seat.

Chaos and queue

Kuri Sen Chaudhuri was supposed to return alone to Calcutta on December 5.

She had paid around ₹22,000 for a round trip. Her return flight was on December 4.

When Sen Chaudhuri attempted to check in online on December 3, she received a message that the flight had been rescheduled on December 5.

“I knew about the IndiGo cancellations, and so it was better not to try to change the flight,” she said on Sunday.

“I reached Dabolim Airport around noon on December 5 and had a boarding pass. However, the display board said that the flight was cancelled,” said Sen Chaudhuri.

“I had to stand in a queue for about an hour before I could reach the IndiGo counter. All passengers were desperate, and there was complete chaos,” she said.

Seats vanish

Sen Chaudhuri, like other passengers, was desperate to return home.

“But the woman at the IndiGo counter told me there was no flight on December 6 and 7. I needed one seat, but she said there was no guarantee that more flights would not be cancelled. I asked her to find out whether there were any flights from the other airport in Goa (Manohar International Airport in Mopa). She said there was none,” said Sen Chaudhuri.

“Then she told me they could give me a seat on a flight to Hyderabad and then a connecting flight to Calcutta. She said seats were available on that flight. But as she was trying to book a seat, the flight filled up in a moment! It was unbelievable,” she said.

Alternative

Sen Chaudhuri, standing at the airport, was desperately searching for seats on other airlines through Mumbai. But nothing was available.

“I tried to book a Vande Bharat train, but it had a long waiting list, and there was no point.”

Goa-Mumbai by bus

Finally, she booked a bus ticket to Mumbai. It cost her about ₹1,000.

“It was an overnight journey, but I could at least reach Mumbai,” said Sen Chaudhuri. “The bus was full of IndiGo passengers whose flights were cancelled. They were from everywhere. Many did not know Mumbai at all,” she said.

The bus had stopped at an eatery, where several other buses also pulled over for passengers to have dinner. “All the other buses were also full of IndiGo passengers from Goa,” she said.

Sen Chaudhuri reached Mumbai on the morning of December 6.

Flight to Calcutta

She booked a SpiceJet flight for around ₹40,000 one way.

“I had no choice. I boarded the flight at 7.10pm on Saturday and reached Calcutta around 9.30pm,” she said.

IndiGo has assured her that she will get her refund for the cancelled ticket.