Elderly man’s Bengaluru-London two-way ticket vanishes from airline’s system: Report

An 83-year-old man was made to wait an hour-and-a-half at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and pay for a fresh ticket after his two-way ticket – to London and back – failed to show up on the airline’s system.

The elderly man’s son had to pay up an extra ₹2.5 lakh to fly his father to London even though the booking details were showing on the airline’s mobile app, The Times of India reported.

The senior citizen has been identified as Vittal, a resident of Kammanahalli. He is a retired central government staff member and was flying to London to visit his son, Harish, who had booked a two-way ticket for his father on British Airways flights.

However, after this ticket vanished on the airline’s system, they were asked to pay for a fresh return ticket as well. The 83-year-old was supposed to fly to London on December 12 on British Airways Flight BA0118 and return to Bengaluru on May 30 on flight BA0119.

Unfortunately, the elderly man suffered a “cardiac condition” a week before his flight to London and had to undergo an angioplasty. The flight was then rescheduled to January 21, however the return date was kept the same.

“Due to his health, I rescheduled his December 12 onward ticket to January 21 with British Airways, who offered me a good price for the fresh date. I kept the return date from London the same as originally planned – May 30, 2023. It was after my father reached Bengaluru airport in the early hours of January 21 that his ordeal began,” Harish told the publication.