Hours after it said it would launch an inquiry into how a lizard got into an airline passenger's meal, Air India issued a statement to the media dismissing the accusations as "false and baseless".
"We are denying any such incident. One because we do not know the authenticity of the photograph and two... no passenger has lodged any such complaint," an airline spokesperson told the media.
The incident took place on a Delhi to London flight on Thursday, when a picture started circulating online showing a black lizard's head peeking out from underneath a bun wrapped in cling wrap. The image provoked shock and angry reactions from netizens, who condemned the airline and its poor hygiene standards.
The embarrassing incident is one of a series of problems the state-run carrier has encountered in recent years. Not only has the carrier failed to draw an annual profit since 2007, it has also been hit by a series of technical glitches and other public gaffes, such as when the airlline made news headlines after a fight erupted between a pair of pilots on one of its flights just before takeoff.