No bed bugs in aircraft, Air India claims after passenger complaint

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Air India sought to reassure its passengers yesterday 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 flights complained of bed bug crawling on the seats. Messages and disturbing pictures of bed bug bites posted in social media had gone viral.

"#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. 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.

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. "The engineering team carried out a thorough fumigation exercise and there were no bugs found after that," an airline official said yesterday.

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."

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