Couple in India Got Married On Plane With Large Crowd to Avoid COVID-19 Restrictions

There are “thinking out of the box” ideas and there are genius ideas.

For some, getting married on a plane sounds like an experience of a lifetime—which, to be fair, is pretty cool.

I mean how often does one get married in the air?

But bringing 160 guests into a small enclosed area might not be the best idea during a pandemic.

Couple in India Got Married Onboard A Plane

According to Agence France-Presse, the couple chartered the flight on Sunday (23 May), inviting more than 160 guests onboard to commemorate their marriage.

However, in light of India’s new wave of COVID-19, restrictions on wedding guests were capped at 50 in most states—which were obviously not abided by. Neither were any masks or social distancing rules followed.

A couple tied the knot on-board a chartered flight from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Their relatives & guests were on the same flight.

"A SpiceJet chartered flight was booked y'day from Madurai. Airport Authority officials unaware of the mid-air marriage ceremony," says Airport Director pic.twitter.com/wzMCyMKt5m

— ANI (@ANI) May 24, 2021

The airport authorities said that they were unaware of the mid-air ceremony.

While carrying more than three times the number of guests allowed on the plane, the couple got married as the aircraft flew over the historic Meenakshi Amman temple on its way from Madurai to Bangalore, reported the Hindustan Times.

I’d say Princess Jasmine and Aladdin were much more responsible, keeping their party to just two on the flying carpet.

SpiceJet, the plane’s airline, was told by a travel agent that the couple had booked the flight for a group of guests for a joy ride after their wedding.

The carrier was replying to the Airports Authority of India on Twitter, who had asked them to look into the incident.

We are taking appropriate action as per the rules. A SpiceJet Boeing 737 was chartered by a travel agent in Madurai on May 23, 2021, for a group of passengers for a joy ride post their wedding. >>

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) May 24, 2021

“The client was clearly briefed on Covid guidelines to be followed and denied permission for any activity to be performed on board,” SpiceJet noted.

“The agent and the guest passengers were briefed in detail, both in writing as well as verbally, on social distancing and safety norms to be followed as per Covid guidelines both at the airport and on board the aircraft throughout the journey.

“The group was repeatedly briefed on the safety norms to be followed by the operating cabin crew and advised to follow the protocols laid down by DGCA including restrictions on photography and videography.”

However, as photos and videos of the wedding surfaced online, the passengers very clearly “did not follow Covid guidelines.”

#Watch ‘@flyspicejet Marriage flight’ took off from Madurai at 7 am on Sunday. “The flight was air-bound for two hours and the couple tied the knot when the aircraft was hovering over the Meenakshi Amman temple,” flight got approval from the authorities. #avgeeks #MaskUpIndia pic.twitter.com/yEVAB5L49t

— Ashoke Raj O+ (@Ashoke_Raj) May 24, 2021

Yikes.

Since the incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has clamped down hard on the people involved, asking SpiceJet to submit complaints against those not following appropriate COVID-19 behaviour to relevant authorities.

In addition, the SpiceJet crew for that particular flight has been de-rostered. DCGA has launched an investigation and is waiting for a full report from SpiceJet and the Airport Authority regarding the incident.

Hopefully, we’ll leave any ingenious ideas for weddings to be carried out after the pandemic is over.

Featured Image: Twitter (ANI)