I-League 2018-19: Flight cancellation forces Minerva Punjab to make 40-hour trip to Shillong

UPDATE: The team has left for Hyderabad and Mumbai and will board a flight to Guwahati on Tuesday morning

Last season’s I-League champions Minerva Punjab FC team were left stranded at the Kozhikode Airport after their morning flight was cancelled in the last moment by Spice Jet. They were scheduled to fly to Guwahati and reach Shillong by road to play their next I-League encounter against Shillong Lajong on Friday, November 23.

Minerva were scheduled to fly to Guwahati on Monday at 11.15 am via Spicejet flight SG 3252. Surprisingly, just about an hour before their departure, the flight was cancelled. There was no prior information or SMS about the cancellation, Minerva owner alleges. The team came to know that their flight was cancelled only after reaching the airport.

Minerva further alleged that they were asked to report back the next day when they asked Spice Jet why their flight was cancelled. The next Spice Jet flight to Guwahati is scheduled for Wednesday.

Minerva Punjab owner Ranjit Bajaj had to immediately come up with a Plan B. Bajaj could not book them on a different airline as they were unavailable for 28 people. He had to reserve tickets on connecting flights consequently.

Bajaj and half of the squad reached Hyderabad at 4 pm and the 15 others, including the foreigners and the coach, have gone to Mumbai. They will reach Hyderabad at 11 pm. Minerva will board a flight to Guwahati at 5.40 am on Tuesday morning.

The team is expected to reach Guwahati by 9 am and then, it will take about four to five hours to reach Shillong by road.

When asked what happened in Kozhikode, Bajaj said, "We came to know about the cancellation only after reaching the airport. When I asked why they have not informed us before, the officials suddenly got defensive and told us the decision was taken only five minutes ago."

Bajaj also took to Twitter to mark his protest against Spice Jet. In reply, the Spice Jet authorities said the flight was cancelled due to operational reasons and since it was a last-minute cancellation, they couldn’t notify the passengers in advance.

Ranjit then asked the airline to book them a hotel either in Hyderabad or in Mumbai, where they would make a stopover since they will have to wait for another 12-15 hours at the airport as per the new itinerary. But the airline harshly replied that they are not in a position to consider his request.

Angry and frustrated by the whole situation, Bajaj took to Twitter again and called out Spice Jet over the ill-treatment. According to him, the airline did not provide food or even a cup of coffee to the team despite repeated requests.

There were no hotels available at Kozhikode and the players and support staff had to wait at the airport, reminding us of the situation when seven Indian players were stranded at Kuwait Airport recently because of flash-floods.

Since their hotel in Shillong was booked in advance, Minerva will have to incur a loss of over Rs 3 lakh as they were not able to reach there on time.

Minerva lost to Gokulam Kerala FC 0-1 on Sunday thanks to a goal from Rajesh S, which left them on the seventh position with four points from as many matches. The match against Lajong is being built up as a game which could spark their title resurgence in the I-League.