Air India Fiasco: An Addled Diplomacy, A Goof up Airline, and Stranded Indians

THE SUNDAY SPECIAL:

By Kislay Kumar

SEOUL: Rohit Khanna (changed name) who desperately needed help from fellow passengers stranded on the IGI airport, New Delhi to assist his wife who was traveling with a new-born baby on the late evening of 26^th August, sent a message to one of the telegram groups related to the travelers, “anyone please help my wife and daughter… my daughter is very small”. The helplessness spread at IGI Airport, New Delhi was grotesque, and even more so as the accountability of none has been established to date.

This gloomy story is a mere snippet of a disappointing state of affairs, a classic case of common citizens being driven round the bend due to botched up operations of a Government Airline, waiting for a new buyer and addled diplomacy which could neither fix the issue-or convince their Korean counterparts to overturn their decision (of not allowing Indians passport holders with an exception of immigrants married to Koreans from landing into South Korea) nor arrange or assure of alternative options to the helpless stranded passengers, such as clear supportive information or any kind of assistance in their return journey or an overnight stay at the times of pandemic, however, some fellow community members came out to support the passengers instead.

It was a late evening of 26^th August 2020, Indian passport holders who were about to fly to Incheon, South Korea from New Delhi via Air India flight (AI-312 at 12:05 AM on 27^th August) which was converted hastily into a passenger flight from a cargo flight, confirmed by Indian Embassy in Seoul during a recent meeting with Indian representatives in Korea, were arriving at the airport. Prior to which two Asiana Airlines flights supposed to fly from Delhi to Incheon on 23^rd August and 28^th August had well in advance denied Indian passport holders (except for marriage immigrants) from boarding the flight on the pretext of being chartered airplanes and visa restrictions and like any other responsible and professional airlines all the airfares were fully refunded within 5 working days by Asiana Airlines.

In spite of knowing this incident related with two Asiana Airlines Flights and its potential consequences or the Air India flight, both Air India and the Indian Embassy failed to extract any kind of concrete or workable information related to the entry permission for Indian passengers in advance and at the same time being well aware of the backlash from Indian community due to complete mismanagement in the ticketing of 1^st flight arranged on 6^th of June which was to be converted to VBM flight on 7^th of June 2020, where few Indians were denied to board the flight after reaching the IGI Airport, New Delhi, despite the fact that they had paid full airfare in advance.

In the case of AI-312 on 26^th of August, some passengers, though being aware of Asiana Airlines denying Indian passengers from boarding the flight, had raised their apprehensions about the operability of the AI-312 flight however, some community members assured them that Air India, supposedly, being a government airline, would carry them safely to South Korea without any snag. The passengers included salaried people, wives of expats, children, and students who were about to join their universities this fall semester. Less did they know that they were about to face an obnoxious situation wherein they would be denied to board the flight at the last moment. A mail received by passengers with Cc to Air India says that only Korean passport holders, immigrants married to Koreans, and APEC Cardholders can board the flight. This implies that all the Indian passport holders except F6 visa holders (visa for immigrants married to Koreans) were barred to board the flight at the last moment. Reportedly AI-312 flight flew with only one passenger on board that night, a good deal of loss for a crumbling government airline.

Despair struck passengers did not just have a single problem, not just their money and time was wasted but their careers were also put on a stake for none of their faults. Some were on the verge of losing their jobs, while some could not join their schools. Many of them had to undergo interstate travel to reach Delhi to board the flight. Repeating the same in the absence of any quick assurance was a painstaking task as some states still have mandatory on-arrival quarantine requisites. The people traveling with their families of three or four members had a huge amount of their money stuck with air India waiting for a refund. The tickets were pricy, fixed at INR 64,000. For a family of four, it would be freaking INR 2.56 lakh.

The role of the Indian embassy in Korea also comes under the question as AI-312 on 27^th August was a special flight arranged for the facilitation of the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight on the consecutive day i.e. on 28^th of August, after the involvement of the Embassy of India in Seoul on the insistence of the Indian community living in Korea.

Hence, it necessarily becomes a joint effort and duty of the Indian embassy as well Air India to look after the procedural requirements and clearances from the Korean government authorities required for flying the special flight of AI-312. None of the entities can supposedly shrug the accountability off their shoulders. It was supposedly the duty of the Indian embassy to collaborate with the Korean government authorities as well as Air India for the smooth operation of the flight.

However, during the Digital Virtual Conference (DVC) of the Indian embassy with the Indian community on August 31^st, the embassy clarified that the flight from DEL-ICN on 27^th August was not a VBM flight but was classified under a chartered flight category and Embassy was not involved in chartering the flight hence, it cannot be held accountable for such sudden travel restrictions and any issues which may be faced by passengers or Air India. If the embassy was to be believed for what it said was true, other serious questions are raised by some community members–

1. Why no official notice was issued by Air India or the Embassy that the flight was a chartered flight?
2. Why was the information of all the passengers including those from DEL-ICN (chartered flight) collected by the embassy and few selective representatives in the name of arranging the VBM flight?
3. Who were the person/ entity responsible for charter the flight?
4. Did the chartering entity/ individual contact the related Korean government authorities and Ministry of Land and Transport, South Korea well in advance?
5. If not, what actions must be taken against that entity/ person involved in this grossly negligent act which has not only harassed hundreds of passengers but also put their careers on stake?
6. If it was a chartered flight what was the interest associated with chartering the flight?”

There has been some sort of involvement of some ‘community leaders’ in the chartered flight operations of Asiana Airlines after travel restrictions were imposed due to CoVid-19 spread but their role is, however, unclear in regards to Air India Fiasco. As per their conversations with the Indian community they say, it was Air-India, solely responsible for the operations and they were not involved in chartering the flight. Hence, the accountability of the entity responsible for the fiasco is still to be established.

The primary reason for demanding a VBM by the community was overpriced tickets of the chartered flights offered by the Asiana airlines. However, Air India’s fare was this time was also close to that of its competitor. Another reason why Indians in South Korea demand VBM is not because many want to vacate South Korea but the majority want to return back to South Korea by the same aircraft which flies a day before to South Korea from India in order to serve under Vande Bharat Mission on a consecutive day. The timings and the haste in which the flight was announced also raises some questions since there were already two Asiana flights from Incheon, South Korea to Delhi one on the 22^nd of August and another on the 27^th of August and hence many Indians could not use VBM as they had already booked their travel with Asiana airlines. The AI-313 VBM flight was announced reportedly on the 21^st of August on the official Facebook page of the Indian embassy which carried only 48 Indians back to India on the 28^th of August.

This was the second VBM flight from South Korea after the first one arranged on the 7^th of June. Between the 7^th of June and the 28^th of August, several requests to the embassy from the Indian community for the arrangement of VBM flights went to deaf ears while Asiana Airlines operated multiple chartered flights between India and Korea during this gap. Despite offering expensive tickets these Asiana airlines flights were often buzzing with passengers as per the accounts of some passengers who used their services.

If there are some restrictions on the entry of Indian nationals from India then the Indian government should coordinate with the Korean government and should come out with the clarification for its citizens. What is Indian diplomacy doing? The actions taken by the Indian diplomats and the ministry of external affairs remain unclear at present as there has been no notice of a vice-versa entry restriction on Korean passport holders into the territory of India by the Indian diplomatic channels or MEA until Korea lifts this ban.

However, now the operations of all international flights have been suspended in India till the 30^th of September. In the DVC meeting held by the Indian embassy in South Korea with the Indian community, the embassy official clarified that they have asked the South Korean authorities to inform the embassy two days prior to any such entry restrictions in the future.

The cursory arrangement of AI-312 flight has stirred up the hornet’s nest among the Indian community living in South Korea. Surrounded with a flurry of unanswered questions and a variety of bafflegab, there are some stranded Indians– men, women, children, and students whose careers are now full of uncertainties and are waiting for the two governments to come out for their help.

About the author: 

Kislay Kumar is a social activist based in South Korea for more than four and a half years and is an active member of the community. In the year 2017, he raised his voice extensively through media channels against racism in South Korea targeted towards Indians and foreigners and is credited to revive the debate of racism in South Korea and the demand of bringing an anti-discrimination law. He also runs his youtube channel called “The Right Discourse” which covers issues related to international relations, national security, domestic/ international politics, economy, education, and green energy. Professionally he had been working as overseas sales in-charge in a Korean company.