Stranded Comtel passengers come home
Passengers stranded in India when Comtel Air cancelled its flights last week are being returned home.
A spokesman for the CAA said that foreign office staff had confirmed passengers were no longer stranded.
The CAA had negotiated repatriation fares with BMI to return some of the 180 passengers to the UK while others had travelled within India to catch alternate flights.
Passengers were covered under the UK ATOL held by travel agency Skyjet travel in Essex which filed for bankruptcy last week.
A spokesman said: “We asked passengers to book flights with BMI and claim a refund from us on their return. If this is not possible, they should contact us.
”They can take other flights as long as it’s a reasonable cost.”
The Austrian airline, Comtel Air which launched cheap flights from Birmingham to Amritsar, via Vienna last month, cancelled its service last week.
It followed allegations that more than 180 passengers on a flight from India to Britain were forced to fork out more than £20,000 in cash to pay for fuel to allow the plane to complete the journey.
BBC reports say Comtel majority shareholder Bhupinder Kandra blamed travel agents for the problems, saying money had not been passed on to the airline.
Diane
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Overseas travelers to the United States declined by 2.5% in 2025