Comtel Air Forces Passengers to Pay More On Board in Order to Continue to Destination

Hundreds of passengers were stranded for six hours in Vienna on a flight from India to Britain when a Comtel Air flight stopped for fuel on November 15. The chartered plane demanded passengers pay a collective 20,000 GBP (about $31,000) in order to pay for fuel, airport costs, and other unexplained costs in order to continue on to Birmingham, U.K.

For passengers that didn't have enough cash on board, the flight operators were nice enough to make them get off the aircraft, go inside to visit an ATM, and re-board the plane in order to contribute money. Children under two were free, so I guess that is nice of them.

It seems curious why the flight crew would need to collect so much cash from passengers after the flight had already begun it's journey. I didn't know that pilots delivered a briefcase of non-sequential, unmarked bills to the airport before take-off could ensue, but I suppose you do learn something new every day.

According to AP, "Bhupinder Kandra, the airline's majority shareholder, told the Associated Press from Vienna that travel agents had taken the passengers' money before the planes left but had not passed it on to the airline."

It will be interesting to keep an eye on what the consequences- if there are any- of these actions (and the other related incidents that can be found in the article below) are.

View the video captured on the aircraft and read more here: http://news.yahoo.com/airline-passengers-asked-extra-cash-fuel-115831926.html