Air India has issued an apology to a passenger who claimed to have found a cockroach in his breakfast meal on board his flight on Saturday morning.
"We sincerely apologise for the incident where our valued pax (passenger) had a disappointing experience with the meal served on board our Bhopal-Mumbai flight. Air India always endeavours to ensure our pax enjoy our services," the national carrier issued a statement on Twitter.
Rohit Raj Singh Chauhan who was flying from Mumbai to Bhopal said he was startled to find a dead cockroach soaked in the idli-vada-sambhar dish that he had ordered on the flight.
A photo of the distressing meal was shared on Twitter by Manoj Khandekar, who was also travelling on the same flight.
Appalled at the discovery, Mr Chauhan said that when he informed cabin crew members, his complaint was dismissed and the crew continued to serve food to other passengers.
“Since the crew members were not listening, I returned it to them. I even objected to their serving food to others, but to no avail,” Mr Chauhan told the Times of India.
Meanwhile, Mr Chauhan has filed a complaint with the authorities at Mumbai airport.
However, it's not the first time that the state-owned carrier has drawn flak for the standard of food it serves on its flights.
In June 2015, a picture that would make your skin crawl went viral on social media that showed a baby lizard poking out from beneath a burger bun on the meal tray.
The alleged incident reportedly took place on an Air India flight from Delhi to London. But the airline refuted the allegations, saying that it had not received any such complaint.
Air India management later started a campaign to reassure its disgruntled passengers of the “quality, hygiene [and] safety” of its onboard catering using the hashtag #IStandwithAirIndia.
