HUNDREDS of airline passengers have been left scrambling for alternative flights to Mumbai as Jet Airways announced the cancellation of all its services from Bahrain until the end of the month.
The Indian airline has more than $1 billion in debt and owes money to banks, suppliers, pilots and lessors – some of whom have started terminating leases with the carrier.
The Indian government has asked state-run banks, led by the State Bank of India, to rescue Jet Airways without pushing it into bankruptcy.
However, passengers, mainly those trying to return to Bahrain, are facing huge losses despite the airline offering a full refund as one-way fare alone will cost them what they paid for the round trip.
The airline, which used to fly four times a week to Mumbai, has called off its services until April 27 and is currently refunding passengers in full.
The airline has more than 100 aircraft in its fleet, and flies on 600 domestic and 380 international routes, of which at least 50 have been grounded. Additionally, it grounded six more aircraft on Tuesday.
A travel agent confirmed the cancellation has led to chaos. “We have been struggling to cancel the bookings with the passengers upset,” said a travel agent in Gudabiya.
“The issue is mainly with passengers who already travelled on a round ticket and are now waiting to return.
“They must have paid between BD120 to BD160 for tickets they booked in December.
“Now with the cancellation, they have to buy a return ticket which will cost them around BD160 to BD170, depending on the sector.”
Jet Airways said on Twitter on Tuesday its flights have been hit due to “operational reasons”.
“We truly regret the inconvenience and would like to assure our customer support teams are working 24x7 to ensure that our guests are re-accommodated or provided with a full refund,” it said.
“Our contact centre, guest relations and social media teams are receiving high volumes of queries which may lead to extended wait/response times for some guests.
“We seek your understanding and support,” it added.
Jet Airways local office confirmed the cancellation but refused to comment further.
“Passengers can come to our Manama office or apply online for a full refund,” said a counter staff member.
“They can also contact their travel agent.”
Services
Meanwhile, a WhatsApp message doing the rounds said the Ethiopian Airlines crash of Boeing 737 Max 8 on March 10 added to the cancellation.
The crash claimed 157 lives, leaving at least 40 countries grounding the Boeing 737 Max 8 over safety concerns. Jet Airways has five operational Boeing 737 Max 8 on its fleet.
However, it could not be verified if any of the aircraft flew between Manama and Mumbai.
The airline had withdrawn its flight services on as many as seven Gulf routes in December and stopped operating as many as 39 services per week to Doha, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Dubai from various Indian cities.
Jet Airways head office in Mumbai could not be reached for comments.
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