Supriya Sule has approached S Jaishankar and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to help 41 Indian citizens trapped in Riyadh after their flight to Mumbai was abruptly canceled. All the passengers were said to be of Bhokardan, Maharashtra, and they were set to board an Akasa Air flight that had been canceled without prior notice.
Going to the social media, Sule brought to the fore the plight of the stranded passengers and called upon the authorities to act swiftly to bring them back safely. She further provided information, including names of the affected people, to attract attention to the crisis of the situation.
In immediate reaction, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh promised it is in the process of liaising with the airline and that it is closely keeping an eye on the situation. According to the embassy it would provide all possible help to the passengers and is trying its best to fix the problem as soon as possible.
In the meantime, using a separate press release, Akasa Air announced that it has been flying between Jeddah and several cities in India, such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kochi, and Kozhikode. Nonetheless, the airline has not given any explicit clarification on the cancellation of the flight between Riyadh and Mumbai.
The incident has created issues with passenger inconvenience and flight disruption especially to Indian travellers in the international arena. The authorities should provide alternative services to the stranded passengers as they liaise with the airline to avoid future occurrence of the same.