Cancellations and delays may have eased, but IndiGo passengers at the Calcutta airport are still facing a mounting problem: missing luggage.
On Saturday, many passengers gathered outside the IndiGo ticket counter, seeking updates on their luggage. Several approached central industrial security force (CISF) personnel and airline staff, asking where their bags were and how long they would have to wait.
About 15 CISF personnel were deployed near the counter on Saturday afternoon to manage the growing crowd and prevent disruptions.
“No one from the airline or the airport authority could provide proper guidance on the location of our baggage. We have been moving back and forth for hours without any update,” said Tilak Ganguly, who has been searching for his luggage since Thursday.
A senior CISF officer directed an IndiGo employee to allow passengers to enter the arrival section and the basement, where unclaimed bags are kept. Passengers were escorted by IndiGo staff and CISF personnel to search for their belongings using baggage tags.
Among them was Karan Veer Grewal, who arrived from Delhi on Thursday with a friend to attend a wedding.
“My flight from Delhi was supposed to be at 3pm on Thursday, but it got deferred to 11pm. We reached Calcutta around 1am on Friday,” Grewal said. “IndiGo assured me they would send my luggage to my hotel, but I didn’t get it. When I came to the airport on Saturday, it wasn’t in the arrival section or the basement. I had to buy new clothes for the wedding.”
Grewal added that airline staff told him the plane carrying his luggage had not yet reached Calcutta. “I have a return flight on Sunday, and I don’t know what I am supposed to do. I was told it might still be at the Delhi airport,” he said.
Anindita Banerjee, 31, a PhD scholar who travelled from Texas, faced similar frustration. After a connecting flight from Delhi to Calcutta was rerouted via Itanagar, she reached Calcutta at 8pm on Friday, only to find her luggage missing.
IndiGo sent her a message asking her to come to the airport in person to report her grievance. “I have been looking for my luggage since morning, but there is still no sign of it,” she said in the afternoon.
Late at night, she said the airline informed her that her luggage had not arrived.
“The airline confirmed that no luggage has come from Delhi for anyone since December 4, and that none will arrive tomorrow or the day after, as all flights from Delhi are cancelled,” Banerjee said.
According to sources at the Calcutta airport, the prime reason for missing luggage was confusion over which flights would operate and which would be grounded.
Many flights are cancelled at the last moment after luggage has been loaded, so bags have to be offloaded.
Additionally, passengers sometimes cancelled tickets after waiting for hours, and their luggage also needs to be removed.
A couple from Calcutta, who had travelled to Goa for a wedding, also faced delays in receiving their luggage.
“Their luggage did not arrive till late on Saturday evening. They had to buy new clothes for the wedding,” said a friend.
IndiGo call centres were reportedly flooded with queries about missing baggage, as passengers continued to struggle to get information and locate their belongings.
