KOCHI: The Ramzan schedule of many people coming from Gulf countries was spoiled owing to the mishap at Nedumbassery Airport and subsequent diversion and rescheduling of flights. Panic and anxiety were visible on the faces of Saujat, wife of Kunhu Mohammad, and her three children, as they waited at the airport to receive him. His flight, scheduled to land at Kochi at 5.40 a.m., was diverted to Thiruvanthapuram. “We were given a five-digit number by the helpdesk to contact. There was no response despite trying many times. Finally, by 2.30 p.m., someone picked up the call and assured us that Kunhu Mohammad would reach Kochi soon. We still have no information about him,” said Saujat, hailing from Mulloorkara in Thrissur.Same is the case with Naseer whose brother was awaiting him at the airport. Naseer’s Jet Airways Flight was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram. His brother had reached the airport at 5 a.m. from Kunnamkulam to receive him.Sankaranarayanan, whose son Pradeep Kumar was coming from Qatar, said though Pradeep had reached Thiruvananthapuram, he was struggling to retrieve his luggage. Sankaranarayanan, who hails from Pattambi, alleged that the authorities were not cooperative. Smitha, a nurse working in Saudi Arabia, was scheduled to travel by a morning flight. She was left to fend for herself as there was none to give proper information about the rescheduling of the flight. “The airport helpdesk kept on changing the time of the flight every time we approached them. She is waiting inside the airport,” said Smitha’s brother.“They gave us an option to return to Alappuzha and to report at 1 a.m. past midnight for the flight. The other option was to stay at a nearby hotel at the airline company’s expenses,” he said.
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