Authorities are seeking reassurances from an airline after passengers claimed they were forced to fund the remainder of their flight back to the UK.
Those on board the Boeing 757 said they were “held to ransom” for six hours in Vienna after a flight with Austrian airline Comtel Air from Amritsar in India stopped to refuel.
They told how they had to hand over £20,000 to pay for the rest of the journey.
More than 180 passengers, who should have arrived back in Birmingham on Saturday, finally returned on Tuesday night, according to the Birmingham Mail.
Ranbir Dehal, from Wolverhampton, told the newspaper: “We were escorted to the cash point to take money out. They said there was a deficit of nearly 24,000 euros and they gave us receipts.”
Reena Rindi, who was on board with her two-year-old daughter, told Channel 4 News that passengers agreed to pay so they could fly to Birmingham and added: “We all got together, took our money out of purses – £130. The children under two went free. If we didn’t have the money they were making us go one by one outside in Vienna to get the cash out.”
Comtel Air specialises in executive aviation and started the commercial route from the UK to Amritsar only last month using the leased 757.
The airline’s passenger services director Bhunpinder Kandra told the Press Association: “I have heard what happened, it shouldn’t have happened, and I will investigate why it happened. The people who had to pay the money will receive a refund.”
Asked if the company was going bust, he said: “There is no chance of that. Comtel is a very strong company, 16 years in Vienna.”
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said: “It is an Austrian airline, so we have no direct jurisdiction over it. We are looking to see if people who bought their holiday in Britain bought it through an ATOL-licensed tour operator. If they did, that tour operator needs to step in to arrange new flights for them.
“If that makes the tour operator go bust, then we would step in to bring Atol-protected people home.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our current advice to anyone affected is to contact their tour operator, travel agent or the airline for further information and about possible alternative arrangements. We would also advise that they monitor our travel advice for India for any updates.”