Air India Flight From UK's Birmingham To Delhi Diverted To Riyadh After Hoax Bomb Threat
An Air India flight from Birmingham to Delhi was diverted to Riyadh on Friday after receiving a bomb threat mid-air. All passengers onboard flight AI114 are safe, the airline confirmed in a statement today.
The aircraft made an emergency landing at Riyadh airport, where security agencies conducted a full sweep of the plane. No explosive material was found during the inspection.
"The aircraft has landed safely, all passengers have been deplaned, and security checks have been completed," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.
Passengers are being accommodated in hotels while the airline is arranging their travel to Delhi.
Riyadh was chosen as the diversion point due to its proximity and availability of emergency handling facilities. Passengers of the flight are expected to depart from Riyadh for Delhi within the next 24 hours.
The incident comes at a time when Air India and Air India Express are already facing operational headwinds. The two carriers together operate over 1,100 flights daily, transporting more than 1.5 lakh passengers.
The aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed Air India to implement enhanced pre-flight safety checks and temporarily reduce some services to improve operational stability and minimize last-minute flight disruptions.
Despite these efforts, the airline cited factors beyond its control-such as airspace closures in the Middle East, night curfews at airports in Europe and East Asia, and general air traffic congestion-as causes for delays and cancellations.
"We try to inform passengers in advance in case of known delays or cancellations. However, in some cases, such as security threats or unexpected operational issues, there may be last-minute disruptions," the airline said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Air India suspends Pune-Singapore direct flight until July 15
Pune: Air India, which is under scrutiny from all quarters following the Ahmedabad plane crash, announced on Sunday that it suspended the direct Pune-Singapore flight until July 15. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Pune-Singapore flight was launched by the erstwhile Vistara in Dec 2022. The flight, now operating as AI-2111, flew four days a week using an Airbus A-321 aircraft. It used to take off from Pune at 0210 hours (IST) and landed in Singapore at 10.30 hours (GMT). This flight was inaugurated online by former Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The airline stated that this was part of its overall reduction in narrow-bodied operations by less than 5%. "This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of Air India's services on three routes and a reduction in frequency on 19 routes. The changes are effective until at least July 15. These reductions aim to strengthen Air India's network-wide operational stability and minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers," an airline press statement said. Other international flights suspended by Air India include a flight between Bengaluru and Singapore. Additionally, a domestic flight between Mumbai and Bagdogra has also been suspended. The frequency of 19 domestic flights, including one between Pune and Delhi, has been reduced. Amitabh Kumar, who was scheduled to fly to Singapore on the flight on Monday, wrote on X, "My Pune–Singapore direct flight on June 23 is cancelled now, and the alternative offered has delayed me by more than 8 hours. The airline informed me just 12 hours prior—no hotel, no care, no compensation," he wrote. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Sushil Arya, who was scheduled to fly on Sunday, said, "They just cancelled the flight a day before. Why has it been cancelled like this a day before?" he asked the airline on X and received the response that the cancellation was for operational reasons. "I have been trying to book the flight for Aug 25, but cannot see the flight. I don't understand whether it will be restored after July 15 or not," another flyer told TOI. The suspension of the flight has left Pune with just four direct international flights, down from five. "The flight was good and gave us the opportunity to travel not just to Singapore, but many other countries in Southeast Asia via Singapore. We hope that the flight is restored," Amol Dayal, a businessman, said.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Air India now cuts single aisle flights by 5% 'at least' till mid July
NEW DELHI: After a 15% cut in wide body flights, Air India Sunday said it is temporarily reducing narrow body operations by about 5% till at least July 15, 2025. AI uses its Airbus A320 family of single aisles mostly on domestic and nearby international routes. Three daily flights — between Bengaluru & Singapore (AI 2392/2393), Pune & Singapore (AI 2111/2110) and Mumbai & Bagdogra (AI 551/552) — have been suspended till July 15. 'This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of Air India's services on three routes and reduction of frequency on 19 routes. The changes are effective until at least July 15, 2025. These reductions are aimed at strengthening Air India's network-wide operational stability and minimising last-minute inconvenience to passengers. Despite these temporary reductions, Air India will continue to operate close to 600 daily flights with its narrowbody aircraft on 120 domestic and short-haul international routes,' AI said in a statement. 'Air India apologises to the passengers affected by these curtailments and is proactively contacting affected passengers to offer re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds as per their preferences…. We remain committed to restoring our full schedule as soon as practicable, while at all times prioritising the safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft,' it added. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
NDTV
6 hours ago
- NDTV
Air India To Scale Back Narrow-Body Operations Across 19 Routes Until Mid-July
New Delhi: Air India has announced a considerable but temporary five per cent reduction in its narrow-body flight operations across select domestic and short-haul international routes, citing the need to bolster operational stability. Until 15 July, the airline is temporarily suspending services on three routes and reducing frequency on 19 routes. The airline is suspending services between Bengaluru-Singapore, Pune-Singapore and Mumbai-Bagdogra - each route losing all seven weekly rotations. Key domestic arteries like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Pune, and Mumbai's links to Goa, Hyderabad and other metros have also seen scaled-back schedules with reduced frequency, thereby losing between five and twelve weekly flights in each sector. This announcement comes after Air India had slashed 15 per cent of its long-haul wide-body operations across international routes following the June 12 AI 171 Dreamliner crash at Ahmedabad. Besides regulatory pressure, the airline is grappling with Middle Eastern airspace closures and night-time curfews in European and East Asian sectors. These factors have already caused 83 wide-body flight cancellations in recent days. According to the airline, the reductions are aimed at strengthening Air India's network-wide operational stability and minimising last-minute inconvenience to passengers. As the airline recalibrates its network and pursues "maximum caution", Air India seeks to assure passengers that full schedules will resume as soon as inspections clear and airspace conditions stabilise.
