SpiceJet passengers claim they were made to wait inside plane for over an hour amid heatwave; Airline says flight departed on time

Passengers who took a SpiceJet flight from New Delhi to Darbhanga have alleged that were forced to wait inside the plane without air conditioning (AC) for over an hour on Wednesday amid the ongoing heatwave in the national capital.

Several passengers reported feeling unwell due to the oppressive heat as the city sizzled with high temperatures.

A SpiceJet passenger, Rohan Kumar said that the air-conditioner (AC) was switched on only after the flight took off from Delhi.

"I was travelling from Delhi to Darbhanga (SG 476) from SpiceJet. At the Delhi airport after check-in, they did not switch on the air-conditioning (AC) for an hour. The temperature inside (flight) was 40 degrees. The passengers were suffering. The air-conditioner (AC) was switched on when the flight took off."

SpiceJet, however, said that its flight SG 476 from Delhi to Darbhanga on June 19, scheduled to depart at 11 am, departed on time without any delays.

"The air conditioning was working normally throughout the flight, which was verified and cross-checked upon arrival in Darbhanga. The same aircraft operated the return flight to Delhi, and there were no issues with the air conditioning on the return flight either" a statement by the airline said.

"During boarding in Delhi, the air conditioning initially experienced slight inefficiency due to extreme weather conditions and both doors of the aircraft being open, as boarding was not via the aerobridge. The doors were promptly closed after boarding completion, and the cooling functioned normally thereafter," according to the SpiceJet spokesperson.

According to the Meterological Department, the heat index, or the "feels-like" temperature in Delhi surged to 50 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The city had recorded a minimum temperature of 33.8 degree Celsius on Tuesday night.

On Monday, an electrical power failure was reported at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport as a result of which the Digi Yatra system and air conditioning systems got rebooted and it took another 10 minutes to restore, a senior official at the airport said.

According to airport sources, the power shutdown was reported in the afternoon for around 10 minutes and was subsequently restored. No flight operations were affected due to the power outage.

"All of the critical operation systems like flight operations and passengers system operations have power backup system and in case of power failure, the entire system shifts of power back system. After the power got restored, certain systems like Digi Yatra system and Air conditioning got rebooted and it took another 10 minutes to restore," said a senior official at the airport.

However, no flight operations were affected. It was a minor shutdown at the terminal that was restored immediately, said a senior officer in airport security. Many passengers have posted pictures and videos of people standing in long queues at the airport due to the functioning of Digi Yatra because of a power outage.

Earlier last week, several areas in the national capital witnessed a power outage.

Delhi minister Atishi, while mentioning the reasons behind the same, wrote in a post on 'X', "There is a power outage in many parts of Delhi from 2:11 p.m. This is due to a fire at a sub-station of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) in Mandola, UP. Delhi receives 1200 MW of power from the Mandola sub-station, and therefore many parts of Delhi have been affected. The power restoration process has begun and electricity is now gradually returning to different areas".