NRI Misses Flight Due to Terminal Mix-Up at Pune Airport

Viman Nagar, 16th July 2024: Prateek Chaturvedi, an NRI from San Francisco, missed his flight to Lucknow on Sunday after mistakenly arriving at the old airport terminal instead of the new one.

Chaturvedi was scheduled to fly back to Lucknow on an Air India Express flight (I5-330) after visiting relatives in Pune. Despite claims from airport and airline authorities that passengers were notified about the terminal change for Air India Express and Air India flights, Chaturvedi stated he received no such notification.

Chaturvedi completed all pre-boarding processes, including security clearance, at the old airport terminal. He entered the airport using DigiYatra and bypassed the check-in counters as he only had hand baggage.

“The flight was scheduled for departure at 5:20 PM but experienced a delay. While I received a notification about the delay, there was no communication via email or text regarding the terminal change,” he explained. “I did receive other messages, such as those listing prohibited items in luggage and details about the boarding gate (no. 3).”

After clearing the security check, Chaturvedi went to his gate but saw no other passengers. After a long wait, he approached representatives of other airlines but received no clear answers. A CISF officer then informed him that Air India Express operations had moved to the new terminal.

Shocked, Chaturvedi requested to be allowed out so he could reach the new terminal. Exiting the airport after clearing security is not straightforward, and Chaturvedi faced questioning by other CISF officials before finally being let out. By the time he reached the airline counter to address the issue, his flight had already departed.

The airline later apologized and offered a full refund.

Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke mentioned that notices about the terminal shift were posted near the D1 and D2 gates of the old terminal. “Staff at the ‘May I Help You’ counter were also instructed to guide passengers to the correct terminal,” Dhoke said.

“The communication regarding the terminal change was sent in advance to all guests, and there were no other escalations. We don’t know why this particular passenger missed it,” an official said.