Amid the sweltering heatwave sweeping across the national capital region, the passengers on a Delhi-Darbhanga SpiceJet flight were made to wait inside a packed aircraft for over an hour with no air conditioning at sevice

In a widely circulated video, the passengers were seen waiting inside the aircraft while fanning themselves with whatever they got their hands on including brochures, magazines, handkerchiefs while wiping the sweat off their foreheads. Many of them reportedly felt unwell due to the long exposure to such heat. 

However, answering questions on the incident, the airline spokesperson said," The SpiceJet 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."

"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", the spokesperson further added.

Commenting on the unbearable situation, one of the passengers told ANI, ANI, "At the Delhi airport after the check-in, they did not switch on the air-conditioning for an hour. The temperature inside the flight was at least 40 degrees. The passengers were suffering. The AC was switched on when the flight took off."

This inconvenient incident came days after a Bagdogra-bound IndiGo flight from Delhi was delayed by three hours due to severe heat as the h above-normal ground temperatures caused a technical snag.