The daughter of the couple, Richa Shah in a report done by TOI, shared their ordeal, explaining, “My father, Rajesh Shah (64), and mother, Rashmi Shah (59), had a single PNR ticket for the journey on August 17, 2023. Dad is wheelchair-bound as he had (earlier) suffered multiple strokes and has undergone surgeries. My mother also cannot walk that long as is required at big airports, and we had booked wheelchairs for both of them for use at airports. They landed in Istanbul as per schedule.”
Upon their arrival, ground staff initially assisted them in making the connection to their Mumbai-bound flight. They were given boarding passes and directed to a boarding gate. However, as hours passed, Richa’s mother went to inquire about the flight status. According to Richa, “The staff took the boarding passes from her and asked them to sit till further instructions. This kept happening repeatedly, and they were only told, ‘My supervisor is on the way; you have to talk to him.'”
The Shahs’ distress escalated when they were informed that the Mumbai flight had already departed. Unable to communicate effectively with the local staff, they reached out to Richa in a state of panic. She attempted to contact IndiGo for assistance, but the language barrier and the complexity of the situation added to the challenges.
Finally, Richa managed to connect with someone from IndiGo’s helpline in India, and the airline issued them boarding cards for a Mumbai flight scheduled the following day. Richa expressed her concern for her parents, saying, “My parents are vegetarians and need constant medication and medical support. They were stranded in this condition for 24 hours at Istanbul. They spent 24 hours on chairs at a secluded place in the airport with a loaf of bread and coke. They were told that they would be picked up from the same place for the next day’s flight.”
In response to this incident, IndiGo issued a statement acknowledging the misconnection at Istanbul Airport. They attributed the issue to a “regrettable case of human error with their Turkish Ground Handling Services.” IndiGo further stated that they extended assistance to the affected passengers and provided them with the next available direct flight option. The airline also expressed their apologies to the elderly couple for the inconvenience they faced during their journey.