IndiGo crew discovers standby passenger on flight, deboard him before takeoff

In a bizarre incident, a crew member of a Varanasi-bound IndiGo flight from Mumbai airport discovered that a standby passenger had boarded the flight and taken the seat of a confirmed passenger.

The boarding lapse came to light when a crew member on flight 6E 6543 noticed a male passenger standing at the rear end of the plane at about 7.50 am, as the plane was preparing to take off.

The standby passenger was immediately deboarded at the airport causing a slight delay in the flight's takeoff.

IndiGo issued a clarification saying that the error was corrected before the plane's departure and the airline will take measures to strengthen the boarding procedure.

“The error was noticed before departure, and the standby passenger was de-boarded. This led to a slight delay. IndiGo will take all measures to strengthen its operational processes. It regrets the inconvenience caused to the customers,” the airline said in a statement.

Standby passengers may be crew members who can occupy vacant seats in a flight. Or, they may be passengers who come early or late for a flight and are placed on standby.

Rise in domestic air passenger traffic

In another development, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday (May 21) released data on domestic air passenger traffic.

According to DGCA, the domestic air passenger traffic saw an increase of 3.88 percent to 1.32 crore passengers in April this year compared to 1.28 crore the previous year.

Notably, IndiGo's market share has risen to 60.6 per cent.