If you're looking for a cheap flight from the UK to India, you might want to pass on Austria's Comtel Air no matter how low the published price.
It seems that - last tuesday - the airline made a scheduled Vienna stop & demanded an unscheduled 23,000 pounds (that's 36,528.73 in yankee bucks) from its passengers to pay for fuel.
And no extra cash meant no more flying.
I don't know about you, but I haven't been asked for 'gas money' since the 60s when my creepy cousin Clarence offered to drive me & the gang to the malt shop.
Passengers actually emptied their wallets, purses & some probably checked under their seat cushions, just in case. Those a bit short were allowed to leave the plane - one at a time - to find a friendly ATM.
'We were held for ransom', said one passenger.
Comtel claims that travel agent Skyjet UK went bankrupt & never paid the airline for its booked seats. So they were a little short on petrol pounds.
That might have been a nice factoid to tell ticket holders BEFORE they boarded in India.
But before painting Comtel as money grabbing (not so frequent flying) con artists with a multi mega cash flow problem, they'll remind you that they really have a big heart - there was no extra charge for any passenger under the age of 2.
And she was very happy not to have to break into her piggy bank for the ride home.
No comments:
Post a Comment