THE Civil Aviation Authority has stepped in to fly home airline passengers who have been left stranded in India by the collapse of an airline.

Skyjet, which sold tickets for Comtel flights between Birmingham and India ceased trading yesterday afternoon.

The CAA has also vowed to refund passengers who have forked out for Comtel Air flights to Amritsar – all of which have now been cancelled.

The Mail revealed earlier this week that airline passengers had to hand over £20,000 in cash to fund their journey home after a Comtel Air flight was grounded in Austria.

The 180 travellers were “held to ransom” on the runway during a refuelling stop in Vienna and forced to hand over the cash before their journey could continue. They endured a four-day delay to catch their return flight from Amritsar, in India.

Another return flight via Vienna has been delayed indefinitely.