Over 100 Air India Express passengers stranded in Muscat hotels for three days

Muscat The Air India pilot strike, which entered into third day Thursday, has left more than 100 passengers, the majority of them low-wage workers, stranded at hotels in Muscat.

"We are trying our best to find a solution for the stranded passengers," Mohit Sen, Air India Country Manager Oman, told Gulf News.

He said since the pilots continued to abstain from duty the problem of stranded passengers was getting complicated. "The options are also limited or not available," he said.

Other seats not available

"Seats on the other airlines are also not available to accommodate these passengers," he said, adding a senior official from the airline would meet the passengers and brief them about the alternate arrangements being made.

Sen said some of the passengers would be sent to Trivandrum via Mumbai on a night flight.

Air India has accommodated more than 100 passengers in two hotels in Muscat after they checked in for flights on Tuesday night.

Some of the 90 Kerala-bound passengers Gulf News met at the Al Falaj Hotel were panicking, with one anxious to leave after three by-pass surgeries in a year-long stay in Oman.

"I have had two bypass surgeries in India and one here in Oman," Vinay Kumar, 37, told Gulf News yesterday. He was returning home for good after working for a year in Muscat.