Kingfisher had on Monday offered a written apology to the 50-odd passengers of the IT-338 Delhi-Mumbai flight when its departure got delayed by 40 minutes. The airline,

according to the passengers, had promised to compensate them the taxi fare from Mumbai airport.

The flight landed at Mumbai past midnight. On Tuesday, several passengers told Newsline that they were not given the conveyance promised to them by the airline. Some, though, managed to get the taxi fare from the airline’s officials but after heated arguments.

A Kingfisher spokesperson said the flight was to arrive in Delhi from Lucknow at 7.50 pm but was delayed by 20 minutes due to air traffic congestion. It landed at the airport’s new runway, 29-11, at 8.20 pm. “It takes at least 20 minutes from the new runway for an aircraft to reach domestic terminal through the taxi way,” a Kingfisher official said. “The passengers were asked to board the flight at 8.40 pm but some them refused to board in protest.”

In a letter to the passengers, the airline’s airport manager, who was present at the time, had apologised and assured that “guests will be provided transport at Mumbai upon arrival. The lack of communication will be investigated.”

Today, one passenger said from Mumbai: “We checked with at least four officials at the airport but they said they had no information about the transport facility promised to passengers in Delhi. I had to pay the taxi fare.”

Another passenger, Pradip Sanghrajka, said he got his fare reimbursed after a 20-minute wait. “An official came with the money only when I said aloud that I would walk out of the premises.”

Kingfisher Airlines maintained that all passengers who approached their ground staff at Mumbai airport were reimbursed the equivalent of taxi fare to their destinations.