Passenger with pet cries foul as pvt airline traumatises them

Dr Kaviya Praveen was travelling with her dog from Toronto to Chennai via Frankfurt on Lufthansa Airlines. Before the trip, she had enquired with the airline on the availability of a pet relief area at Frankfurt airport, she claimed.

“On the day of travel, the flight from Toronto was delayed by two hours. I contacted Lufthansa to request space for my dog in the pet cargo. But as he weighs only 3.5kg, they insisted that I carry him with me in the cabin as excess baggage. I even enquired if they had a pet relief area in Frankfurt airport and they said yes. The flight landed late in Frankfurt and we had less than 45 minutes to board the flight to Chennai,” narrated Kaviya.

She alleged that despite assuring help of a ground staff to board the connecting flight, the staff left her behind before she could board the bus with other passengers to reach the flight. “The person at the gate said that the boarding was closed and added they can either send me on the same flight to Chennai the next day or fly back to Toronto,” she added.

Her family members said that they had to undergo trauma and inconvenience due to the irresponsible behaviour of the airline. “She had no choice but to wait for the flight next day. They had nothing to give her but food vouchers, and she could not book a room at the transit hotel because it was not pet-friendly,” added her father Dr R Selvarangam, an eye surgeon in Madurai. When contacted, the officials at Lufthansa refused to comment on the allegations.