Enraged flight passenger ‘takes on’ Union minister

By A Staff Reporter

IMPHAL | Nov 22

An enraged passenger who missed her connecting flight from Kolkata to Patna due to delay of all flights at Imphal Airport with VVIP arrival at the airport, engaged tourism Union minister, Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam in an angry exchange upon the latter’s arrival yesterday.

The passenger identified as Dr. Nirala Singh who is currently a PG final year student in department of Obst and Gynae at RIMS booked a connecting flight from Imphal to Kolkata and from Kolkata to Patna to join the funeral ceremony of her brother.

But due to the delay of all the flights in connection with the VVIP arrival at Imphal Airport, she had already missed the flight from Kolkata to Patna before even boarding the flight from Imphal.

The video of the incident has gone viral in the social media. In the video clip the lady doctor was seen shouting at the Union minister Alphons on his arrival at the Imphal airport.

“I was waiting and crying so I approached the minister thinking a minister can do everything,” Dr Nirala said. Meantime the minister was seen trying to calm down the lady stating that all flights will take off once the President’s flight touches down at the airport.

In a statement, Indigo airlines said that her flight “was delayed for more than two hours for airspace closure due to the VVIP movement at Imphal.”

“3 scheduled flights were delayed by around 2 hours due to the President of India’s flight movement. We heard that one passenger who was travelling from Imphal to Patna argued with Union Minister KJ Alphons,” said an airport official.