JAIPUR: In the case of two passengers who had tickets for Jaipur but disembarked at Jodhpur airport without informing the airline staff on Tuesday, the airport authority officials suspect that it was a pre-planned move. The passengers had reportedly claimed to have deplaned due to some personal emergency but did not return in spite of repeated calls from the Air India crew. Sources claimed that the fare difference (approximately Rs10,000 on Tuesday) between Mumbai to Jaipur in comparison to Mumbai to Jodhpur was the actual reason for the passengers acting in this manner.Calling it a pre-planned move, G K Khare, director, Jodhpur Airport told TOI, “The passengers were smart enough not to have any check-in luggage, so very easily, they picked up their cabin baggage and walked out of the airport. Air India should have checked the boarding passes more thoroughly since that’s the usual drill. Boarding passes are checked of the passengers especially when there is a halt in the journey.”The incident is of the Jaipur-bound flight which had a halt of around 30 minutes at the Jodhpur Airport. “The passengers were from Jodhpur and the possible reason for their deplaning without informing was because the ticket to Mumbai-Jaipur was cheaper. This happens sometimes but it is not common at Jodhpur Airport,” added Khare.The passengers’ antics delayed the flight by over an hour as the carrier's management had to not only search for the passengers but also offload the remaining passengers and board them again after checking tickets afresh. On being called by the airlines crew, the passengers admitted to being residents of Jodhpur and in spite of being asked to return, none of them turned up at the airport.Air India authorities could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts by TOI.

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