New Delhi: Air India sought to reassure its passengers on Thursday stating that there are no bed bugs in its aircraft after carrying out an extensive fumigation exercise following complaint by some passengers last month.
The state-run carrier came under fire in mid-July when business class passengers of Newark-Mumbai flight complained of bed bug crawling on the seats. Messages and disturbing pictures of bed bug bites posted in social media had gone viral.
Read: Bed bugs infest Air India's Mumbai-bound flight from US
"#AirIndia affirms that no bedbugs were found after thorough checking of seats, laundry facilities & fumigation of aircrafts following bugbite complaints in some flts. "These unfortunate reports are the first of its kind in our legacy of flying generations of satisfied pax (sic)," it said in a late evening tweet.
#FlyAI : #AirIndia affirms that no bedbugs were found after thorough checking of seats, laundry facilities & fumigation of aircrafts following bugbite complaints in some flts.These unfortunate reports are the first of its kind in our legacy of flying generations of satisfied pax.
— Air India (@airindiain) August 2, 2018
The latest tweet followed the airline's statement last week which maintained that the incidents of bed bugs reported by passengers in international flights were "isolated" ones even as it had taken a "serious" view of the complaints and carried out an extensive service of the aircraft, including fumigation.
Also read: 'Isolated incident', says Air India after complaints of bed bug in flight from US
On July 17, one of the passengers of the Newark-Mumbai flight described his ordeal and the unpleasant experience his family had to go through in the 17-hour long journey.
On July 20, another passenger Saumya Shetty posted a picture on Twitter of her hand covered in bite marks.
What an #airindia #businessclass would do to you? AI still has to get in touch with me inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them. @airindiain @NewYorkTimes11 @cnni pic.twitter.com/tDHfmhX0Vx
— Saumya Shetty (@saumshetty) July 20, 2018
"The engineering team carried out a thorough fumigation exercise and there were no bugs found after that," an airline official said on Thursday.
Sources denied reports of bed bugs spotted by passengers in an international flight this week.
In its statement issued on July 24, Air India had said, "Experienced experts have carried out extensive service on the aircraft from fumigation to overhaul of the upholstery/seat covers/carpets etc to ensure that passengers keep enjoying their in-flight experience with us as always without any complaint of inconvenience."
