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16th November 2011, 11:24 AM
Birmingham forced into £20k whip-round for fuel after they're told 'pay up or you won't get home.
Last updated at 5:57 PM on 16th November 2011
Airline passengers were forced to stage a giant whip-round and hand over more than £20,000 in cash after being 'held to ransom' by their cash-strapped airline.
More than 180 passengers were left stranded on the tarmac when cabin crew announced during a refuelling stop that Austrian carrier Comtel Air had 'run out of cash'.
The travellers had been returning to Birmingham on a chartered flight from Amritsar, India, when the airline's money woes became apparent during the stopover at Vienna airport.
Passengers refused to get off the plane and were told that the flight would only return to Birmingham if € 23,400 (£20,005) was handed over.
Austrian police were called to the aircraft during the six-hour stand-off on Tuesday morning, which only ended when passengers were escorted to cashpoint machines that ran out of money.
The whip-round included euros and pounds that were borrowed as many of the elderly and young passengers did not have any money.
The passengers were told that they and their luggage would be removed from the plane if they did not pay up.
More than 600 people on four different flights are thought to have been embroiled in the fiasco which started at the northern Indian city at the weekend. Another Comtel flight from Vienna was said to be 'delayed indefinitely'.
Gurhej Kaur, a blind 80-year-old from Handsworth Wood, was one of the passengers who spent more than 15 hours on the plane while her medication was in the hold.
Her 34-year-old relative, Dalvinder Batra, from Oldbury, said: 'It is absolutely disgusting.
'There are still people stuck out there. We have been told that the company has gone bust.' The first passenger off the plane was Tarlochan Singh. The 57-year-old from Wolverhampton had been in India for three weeks.
He said: 'Nobody has told us anything. They wanted all the money in cash. Everyone was furious,
that is why we had the sit-in. We spent more than six hours in Vienna.' Satbarg Nijjar was collecting his wife Gurdab Kaur Nijjar after a four-week holiday.
The 60-year-old, from Coventry, said: 'They have been told that they have not paid landing fees or taxes and the company is in financial trouble.' Ranbir Dehal, 32, from Wolverhampton, said: 'We were escorted to the cash point to take money out.
'They said there was a deficit of nearly EUR24,000 and they gave us receipts. They lined up the buses and said we would be removed from the plane.' Many of the passengers bought their tickets through Takhar Travel, a travel agent based in Smethwick, West Midlands.
Comtel Air's website was yesterday 'down for maintenance'. A message told customers to contact Bhupinder Kandra, the firm's director of air scheduled services.
But the office number posted for him on the site was yesterday described as 'not listed', according to a recorded message.
Contacted on his mobile phone, Mr Kandra claimed to be driving and promised to comment later. He then failed to answer calls.
Many of the passengers bought their tickets via a Smethwick-based travel agent. The agent did not respond to inquiries.
Comtel Air specialised in executive aviation and owned a Dassault Falcon 2000 business jet. It had only started the commercial route from the UK to Amritsa at the start of last month, using a leased Boeing 757.
A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: 'Comtel Air has been contracted by a number of UK travel companies to facilitate flights to Amritsar, via Vienna. Comtel Air has a contractual arrangement with an approved airline to operate this service.
'Clearly, we are very concerned about this situation and understand the distress that this is causing the passengers directly involved and their loved ones.
'Comtel Air has been operating from Birmingham Airport to Amritsar since October, and has so far offered a successful operation to several hundred passengers.
'We are therefore very disappointed that the operator is having these problems this week and we are urgently investigating the matter to get some clarity going forward.' He said the airline is registered in Austria and not within the jurisdiction of the Civil Aviation Authority.
All three Comtel Air flights that were scheduled to leave Birmingham airport in the airline's regular slots last Friday, Saturday and Sunday were cancelled. The airline told Birmingham Airport that the cancellations were for 'operational reasons'.
The spokesman added: 'Anyone due to travel with the airline is advised to contact the travel company they have booked the flights with for advice. Those passengers overseas need to ascertain whether their travel arrangements are protected by the ATOL scheme.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062232/Comtel-Air-passengers-forced-20k-whip-round-pay-fuel.html#ixzz1dvv4PM2R
Last updated at 5:57 PM on 16th November 2011
Airline passengers were forced to stage a giant whip-round and hand over more than £20,000 in cash after being 'held to ransom' by their cash-strapped airline.
More than 180 passengers were left stranded on the tarmac when cabin crew announced during a refuelling stop that Austrian carrier Comtel Air had 'run out of cash'.
The travellers had been returning to Birmingham on a chartered flight from Amritsar, India, when the airline's money woes became apparent during the stopover at Vienna airport.
Passengers refused to get off the plane and were told that the flight would only return to Birmingham if € 23,400 (£20,005) was handed over.
Austrian police were called to the aircraft during the six-hour stand-off on Tuesday morning, which only ended when passengers were escorted to cashpoint machines that ran out of money.
The whip-round included euros and pounds that were borrowed as many of the elderly and young passengers did not have any money.
The passengers were told that they and their luggage would be removed from the plane if they did not pay up.
More than 600 people on four different flights are thought to have been embroiled in the fiasco which started at the northern Indian city at the weekend. Another Comtel flight from Vienna was said to be 'delayed indefinitely'.
Gurhej Kaur, a blind 80-year-old from Handsworth Wood, was one of the passengers who spent more than 15 hours on the plane while her medication was in the hold.
Her 34-year-old relative, Dalvinder Batra, from Oldbury, said: 'It is absolutely disgusting.
'There are still people stuck out there. We have been told that the company has gone bust.' The first passenger off the plane was Tarlochan Singh. The 57-year-old from Wolverhampton had been in India for three weeks.
He said: 'Nobody has told us anything. They wanted all the money in cash. Everyone was furious,
that is why we had the sit-in. We spent more than six hours in Vienna.' Satbarg Nijjar was collecting his wife Gurdab Kaur Nijjar after a four-week holiday.
The 60-year-old, from Coventry, said: 'They have been told that they have not paid landing fees or taxes and the company is in financial trouble.' Ranbir Dehal, 32, from Wolverhampton, said: 'We were escorted to the cash point to take money out.
'They said there was a deficit of nearly EUR24,000 and they gave us receipts. They lined up the buses and said we would be removed from the plane.' Many of the passengers bought their tickets through Takhar Travel, a travel agent based in Smethwick, West Midlands.
Comtel Air's website was yesterday 'down for maintenance'. A message told customers to contact Bhupinder Kandra, the firm's director of air scheduled services.
But the office number posted for him on the site was yesterday described as 'not listed', according to a recorded message.
Contacted on his mobile phone, Mr Kandra claimed to be driving and promised to comment later. He then failed to answer calls.
Many of the passengers bought their tickets via a Smethwick-based travel agent. The agent did not respond to inquiries.
Comtel Air specialised in executive aviation and owned a Dassault Falcon 2000 business jet. It had only started the commercial route from the UK to Amritsa at the start of last month, using a leased Boeing 757.
A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: 'Comtel Air has been contracted by a number of UK travel companies to facilitate flights to Amritsar, via Vienna. Comtel Air has a contractual arrangement with an approved airline to operate this service.
'Clearly, we are very concerned about this situation and understand the distress that this is causing the passengers directly involved and their loved ones.
'Comtel Air has been operating from Birmingham Airport to Amritsar since October, and has so far offered a successful operation to several hundred passengers.
'We are therefore very disappointed that the operator is having these problems this week and we are urgently investigating the matter to get some clarity going forward.' He said the airline is registered in Austria and not within the jurisdiction of the Civil Aviation Authority.
All three Comtel Air flights that were scheduled to leave Birmingham airport in the airline's regular slots last Friday, Saturday and Sunday were cancelled. The airline told Birmingham Airport that the cancellations were for 'operational reasons'.
The spokesman added: 'Anyone due to travel with the airline is advised to contact the travel company they have booked the flights with for advice. Those passengers overseas need to ascertain whether their travel arrangements are protected by the ATOL scheme.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062232/Comtel-Air-passengers-forced-20k-whip-round-pay-fuel.html#ixzz1dvv4PM2R