Nagpur Student Alleges ₹20,000 Demand Over Laptop Bag Weight on Qatar Airways Flight

A 25-year-old student from Nagpur has alleged that she was unnecessarily harassed and asked to pay ₹20,000 for excess baggage by a Qatar Airways employee at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport late Tuesday night.

The passenger, Vaishnavi Pankaj Shimpi, a resident of Mahal, was traveling back to Glasgow to continue her MS in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. She arrived at the airport around 1:30 AM to board Qatar Airways flight QR 591 to Doha, with connecting flights to London and Glasgow.

According to Shimpi, the incident occurred around 2:30 AM during the security check process. A 26-year-old male airline employee weighed her check-in and cabin luggage. While Shimpi maintained that her luggage met the permitted weight limits, the employee included her separate laptop bag in the cabin baggage calculation, claiming she exceeded the limit.

Shimpi alleged that the staff member demanded ₹20,000 for the extra weight and instructed her to go outside the airport building late at night to remove items from her bag. She tried explaining that she was a student and had recently flown from Glasgow to Nagpur with the exact same luggage setup without facing any issues.

After her explanation was ignored, Shimpi requested that a female staff member re-weigh her luggage. Upon the second check by the female employee, her baggage was found to be within allowable limits, and she was permitted to proceed with all her belongings without any additional charges.

Shimpi noted that other female passengers also appeared to experience difficulties while interacting with the same male employee. She has urged Qatar Airways management to investigate the incident and ensure staff provide proper guidance rather than harassing travelers. Attempts to reach local representatives of Qatar Airways for a statement were unsuccessful.