23-04-2025
This flight sucks! Skin-crawling video shows air passengers swatting mosquitoes after insects swarmed jet leaving itchy travellers 'praying for the flight to end'
This is the skin-crawling moment mosquitoes swarmed a plane, leaving itchy passengers praying for the flight to end.
A shocking video filmed aboard an IndiGo flight from Lucknow to Delhi in India on Monday shows passengers swatting the insects and scratching their skin.
Separate footage shows the pesky bugs whizzing around the plane and resting on the overhead lockers.
Those onboard complained that cabin crew were ill-equipped to address the issue, with some frustrated passengers claiming that they were only offered lemongrass remedies to combat the mosquitoes.
When passengers raised their concerns to the crew, they were reportedly told that the mosquitoes entered through an open door and there was nothing they could do.
One passenger, Manisha Pande said: 'The whole flight was spent scratching, swatting and just praying for the flight to [be] over.
'The solution they offered was some silly lemongrass patch that did nothing.
'We paid over [£35] per ticket for this.
The incident happened on an IndiGo flight from Lucknow to Delhi in India on Monday
'Not cheap. Not low-cost. Just low-effort.'
She added: 'Airlines don't care, airports can't manage basic pest control, and passengers are just expected to take it quietly.
'It's not just bad service, it's a systemic rot.
'Shame on IndiGo, Lucknow Airport, and whoever is responsible for airport sanitation', she added.
An IndiGo spokesperson said: 'We take your onboard experience seriously and strive to make every journey comfortable and pleasant.
'To prevent the entry of mosquitoes, our aircraft undergo regular fumigation, and patches are placed on seats.
'We're also coordinating with the airport to address this effectively.
'While we take every precaution, we hope you understand that mosquitoes can still enter through open doors.'
One local said: 'They should keep those electric [rackets] under the seats along with the life jackets.'
'Strange. Just four days ago, I flew from Lucknow to Mumbai with IndiGo, but it was mosquito-free. Lucknow itself, though, was infested,' added someone else.
A third joked: 'Those mosquitoes will now need to start a new family and life at the new location after the flight. Sad.'
This is not the first time passengers have had to deal with swarms of bugs on planes.
It comes after passengers were filmed screaming in horror as cockroach-like insects started to fall on their heads just moments before take-off.
The hair-raising incident took place in June 2019 on an Air Transat flight from London Gatwick to Vancouver.
Passengers had boarded flight TS177 when the bugs began tumbling from overhead luggage lockers.
After cabin crew were alerted to the problem, pest control officers from the airline boarded the A300 jet and began spraying pesticide on the seats.
The problem was considered so serious that the captain announced all passengers would have to disembark the plane.
Bug expert Dr Alison Blackwell said the creatures were a type of scarab beetle, of which there are 30,000 different species.
After an initial seven hour delay the airline announced that the flight had been cancelled.
Passengers were put up in nearby hotels and given vouchers for food but many complained that their hotels were too far away and that they were not looked after properly.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said the pest control officers were from the airline and they did not have any involvement in the incident.
