Himalaya Airlines Plane Lands In Doha Without Checked Baggage Of Many Passengers

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Anisha Bijukumar | The Peninsula

Doha, Qatar: Nepal's Himalaya airlines plane bound for Doha from Kathmandu lands at Hamad International Airport with almost no checked-in luggage, and no explanations offered to passengers.

The flight, which took off after an initial delay of about 90 minutes, landed without their baggage to the utter dismay of passengers, leaving most of them waiting for about two hours with no concrete explanation.

The flight, H9563, was initially scheduled to take off on January 29, 2024, at 21:55 local time from Kathmandu and land in Doha at 0:45 past midnight.

However, their arrival was also delayed due to unknown reasons as the flight eventually landed at 2:12 am.

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One of the passengers, Dipendra, who was returning to Doha on a new work visa after a gap of two years was all excited for new beginnings. After clearing immigration, he went to the baggage carousel to collect his luggage and waited for two hours along with fellow passengers from the same flight.

"There were a handful of bags on the carousel and when we enquired with the luggage service at the airport, they told us that our luggage had not arrived in the plane," he told The Peninsula, adding that his documents and a small amount of pocket money were in the bag that was stuck in Nepal.

The bags arrived the next day, January 31, which as per the passengers, came on the next flight.

Another passenger, Abeer stated that the airline has a lax attitude to such practices and refuses to entertain complaints. "They behave in such a fashion because we are all labourers and expect that there will be no complaint from our side. It was the Hamad Airport baggage service that explained that the plane arrived without most of our bags. We gave a written complaint at the airport and received our bags the next day," he vented.

On contacting Himalaya Airlines, the official on duty refused to comment and informed The Peninsula that the Corporate Communications from Nepal would get in touch but had not reverted as of filing the report.

Meanwhile, another passenger who travelled by Nepal Airlines on the same day also shared a similar experience. "I and few others who arrived by Nepal Airlines also did not receive our bags and were told to come to the Hamad International Airport on the next day to collect it as they had not arrived on the flight," she said, adding that though it is not a major cause for concern, it is an inconvenience as they came back to Doha a day before resuming their duties and then going to the airport to collect their bags became a problem.

"An entire flight with no luggage lands in Doha and the airline does not even have any clue. We called the Himalaya Airlines office here and the official just said that it will arrive on the next flight with no apology for the inconvenience caused or no explanation on their part," he added.

(Names of the passengers have been changed upon request)

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