A Vistara flight en route to Goa faced an unexpected detour back to Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, as clearance to land in Dabolim was denied due to runway obstructions.
Meanwhile, two IndiGo flights smoothly touched down at the Goa International Airport, leaving passengers puzzled.
Vistara’s UK 881, carrying over 100 passengers, executed a safe landing back in Goa at 6.15 pm after the diversion. Goa airport director S V T Dhanamjaya Rao explained, “There was some obstruction on the runway, and the pilot was instructed to hold. The pilots chose to be safe and return to the origin.”
The flight, scheduled to land in Goa at 2 pm, left Bengaluru at 12.55 pm, causing frustration among passengers due to a lack of clear information about the delay. An irate passenger, Anuj Mishra, questioned, “Why runway restrictions only for UK881? Why was it not diverted to MOPA (GOX) airport? A total haywire decision to make passengers’ lives hell. 6E6345 IndiGo from Ahmedabad landed at Goa.”
As emotions ran high, some passengers directed their frustration towards the flight attendants. Vistara representatives, expressing regret for the inconvenience, emphasized that the airline played no role in the decision to divert to Bengaluru. An official empathetically stated, “The flight was diverted due to runway restrictions at Goa Airport. Unfortunately, such circumstances are beyond our control.”
While some passengers demanded compensation, others argued that the flight should have been diverted to Mopa, where Vistara also operates flights from the new Manohar International Airport. An airline official clarified, “Flight UK881, which was diverted to Bengaluru, departed for Goa at 4.55 pm and landed at Dabolim at 6.15 pm.”
Coincidentally, around 5 pm on Monday, dry grass near the Mopa air traffic control tower caught fire, but officials from GMR Goa International Airport Limited assured that the incident did not impact flight operations.
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