Several passengers who have flown on Air India flights out of a New Jersey airport over the last week have reported being bitten by bed bugs.
According to NJ.com, a traveler named Pravin Tonsekar purchased business class seats for himself, his wife and two children for a 17-hour flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Mumbai Tuesday when the family discovered their seats were covered with bed bugs.
Tonsekar shared images of the small insects on their seats via Twitter, saying that his two daughters were covered in bug bites by the end of the journey:
@airindiain @sureshpprabhu @narendramodi_in Suresh Prabhuji – just arrived from New York on Air India 144 business class with family . All our seats infested with bed bugs . Sir , have heard of bed bugs on trains but shocked to experience on our maharaja and that too business pic.twitter.com/m2GnfOpTO3
— Pravin Tonsekar (@pat_tons) July 17, 2018
In response, Air India issued a reply via Twitter, saying, “We are sorry to hear this, Mr. Pravin. Sharing the details with our maintenance team for corrective measures in this regard.”
Tonsekar wasn’t the only traveler reporting an incident with bed bugs, as another man identified as Rohan said on social media that his wife and three children were on an Air India flight Wednesday afternoon and were bitten by the insects:
@airindiain my wife and three kids flex business class AI 144 from Newark to mumbai; now they have bed bug bites all over their body; is this is what we paid $10,000 for???
— Rohan (@roscrow) July 19, 2018
The Times of India reported another group of travelers, including an 8-month-old child, were bitten by bugs on the same Newark-Mumbai route, but the plane was different.
A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told NJ.com officials at the Newark airport haven’t received any reports of bed bugs in the terminal or other areas of the facility.
