Troubles at Air India continue: Flights to London, Paris cancelled; glitch hits San Francisco-Mumbai flight

Separately, Air India terminated its San Francisco-Mumbai flight at its scheduled stopover at Kolkata early on Tuesday morning after one of its engines developed a technical snag.
While Air India cancelled the Delhi-Paris flight after some problems were detected during pre-flight checks, its Ahmedabad-London one was cancelled due to unavailability of aircraft, the airline said.
Mumbai/Kolkata, Jun 17 (PTI) Troubles continued at Air India, which is facing the biggest crisis since Tata group bought the airline three and a half years back, with its flights to London and Paris on Tuesday being cancelled for varied reasons and a glitch forcing fliers on San Francisco-Mumbai flight to deplane during a stopover.
The disruptions came as investigators probe what caused a London-bound Air India flight to crash in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on June 12, killing more than 270 people onboard and on the ground.
The incident dealt a severe blow to the airline and its owner Tata, which prides itself for producing luxury cars to salt and software as well as assembly of iPhone.
In a statement, Air India said flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris has been cancelled after 'mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed'.
It did not detail the issue that came to light during pre-flight checks.
'However, in view of the flight coming under the restrictions on night operations at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport, the said flight has been cancelled,' Air India said.
The airline said it is providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by the passengers.
Air India also said it is making alternative arrangements to fly passengers to their destination at the earliest.
The airline, which on Monday resumed flights from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick with a new code AI159 instead of AI171 of the flight that crashed on June 12, had to cancel the flight on Tuesday due to unavailability of aircraft.
It denied claims that a technical snag led to the cancellation and maintained that it has made alternative arrangements for the affected passengers to their destination and offered full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by them.
Air India's official website confirmed that the AI-159 flight from Ahmedabad to the Gatwick airport in London stands cancelled after being rescheduled. The plane was scheduled to depart at 3 pm from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA).
'Flight AI-159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (London) has been cancelled today (Tuesday) due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft, and not due to any technical snag as claimed,' an AI spokesperson said.
'We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers and have made alternative arrangements to fly them to their destination. We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by passengers,' he added.
Consequently, flight AI-170 from London (Gatwick) to Amritsar on June 17 stands cancelled, the airline said.
Iran has closed its airspace due to its ongoing war with Israel, affecting flights headed to Europe.
AI's direct flight from Ahmedabad to London was earlier known by its assigned code 'AI-171'.
Airport sources said the flight having code AI-171 was suspended after the horrific crash which claimed 270 lives, including 29 people on the ground.
It resumed operation on Monday (June 16), five days after the crash, with a new flight code AI-159, said an airport official.
Separately, an Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata suffered a technical snag early Tuesday, requiring passengers to deboard during a scheduled halt at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.
The termination led to chaotic scenes at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport as the 211 passengers on the Boeing 777-200 LR tried to convince officials to let them reach their destination at the earliest.
The Tata Group-owned carrier did not issue an official statement.
Sources said Air India is making 'special arrangements' to fly the stranded passengers to Mumbai. No further details were available.
Usually, the carrier flies directly to Mumbai from San Francisco but the ongoing geopolitical events, including the closure of Pakistani airspace, have led AI to reroute it and take a 'technical halt' in Kolkata.
Flight AI-180 landed in Kolkata at the scheduled time of 12.45 am, even though it took off one hour late from San Francisco.
According to sources, a technical issue was detected during routine post-landing checks, and the airline decided to do a comprehensive check.
It was scheduled to depart for Mumbai at 2 am, but passengers came to know of the problems only after 2.40 am when the crew announced there was a problem with the left engine, according to a PTI reporter who was on the flight.
However, this announcement was accompanied by a specific promise, that the snag will take up to 25 minutes to get sorted, the reporter said.
However, as the clock ticked by, distraught passengers having connecting flights from Mumbai started enquiring about the progress of the work with the cabin crew, but there was no clear response, the reporter said.
With the Ahmedabad accident being fresh, some passengers also said a delay is better than a mishap, while some wondered how an aircraft which had travelled thousands of kilometres could face problems in the last leg from Kolkata to Mumbai.
The next announcement came at 4.20 am when the pilots sought another 15-20 minutes for rectification of the problem.
The engineers could be seen working on the left engine even as a drizzle continued, but the problem persisted. Finally, around 5.20 am, the pilots announced that a resolution was not possible and asked all passengers to deplane.
After disembarking and passing the mandatory immigration, collecting baggage and passing the customs channels, the passengers were asked to sit in a designated area.
A few passengers pleaded with officials asking for the earliest option to travel to Mumbai. Some got lucky, while others continued to wait.
Finally, an Air India official announced that Mumbai-bound flights were mostly full and convinced a bulk of the passengers to check into a hotel. PTI IAS AA ANZ BAL BAL
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Time of India

28 minutes ago

• Time of India

EXPANSION ON, ISSUES REMAIN

On May 24, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi had announced an ambitious plan to boost Odisha's urbanisation rate from the current 17% to 40% by 2036 and 60% by 2047. The announcement, made during the 10th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, detailed the govt's urbanisation plan which includes developing a massive 7,000sqkm metropolitan region – comparable to the size of the Hyderabad Metropolitan region – encompassing Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Jatni, Cuttack, Paradip and Puri. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now When it comes to urbanisation, of all the infrastructural facilities that require attention and expansion, an airport is one of most important structures that plays a key role. And in the aftermath of the plane crash in Ahmedabad airport last week, focus on aviation-related infrastructural facilities has become paramount. "The existing airport in Bhubaneswar, despite recent upgrades, is approaching saturation, struggling to accommodate growing passenger traffic and bigger aircraft and large cargo operations. The proposed metropolitan area's economic potential, coupled with increasing tourism and business activities, demands a new and strategically located airport outside Bhubaneswar," former Air India pilot and BJD leader Manmath Routray said. The state budget in Feb had proposed to establish a greenfield airport in Paradip to accelerate growth in industry and to further expand the aviation map across industrial clusters in coastal areas. A greenfield airport in Puri has also been planned. The previous BJD govt had planned the Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri. As per the plan, considering Bhubaneswar's saturation, Puri was planned to become fully an international airport and Bhubaneswar fully domestic. Recently Majhi also discussed expediting work on the proposed airport in Puri and upgrading the existing one in Rourkela. Routray added that a new airport would not only decongest the existing facility but also catalyse economic growth across the planned metropolitan region. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It would enhance connectivity, boost tourism, and support the region's industrial development. "The project aligns with Odisha's vision of becoming an economic powerhouse in eastern India," he said. The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) operates over 100 flights daily on an average and more than 35,000 flights annually. In 2013, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had planned a comprehensive expansion plan requiring 64 acres of additional land. The primary objective was to extend the runway from 9,000ft to 10,500ft, which would have enabled the airport to accommodate bigger aircraft like Boeing 777, 787 and 747, along with special cargo planes. Despite multiple negotiations spanning several years, the state govt's offer in March 2017 fell short of the requirement. It proposed allocating only 47 acres of land, currently under the control of Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT), against the required 64 acres. This land shortage then prompted AAI to reconsider its expansion strategy. Airport authorities have indicated that the existing runway is sufficient for current commercial operations, leading the AAI to shift its focus towards improving infrastructure and passenger services instead. "To expand the existing runway from 2274 meters to over 3000 meters, we need land in length and not in width. We can get 47 acres from OUAT but require another 17 acres that need to be acquired by displacing a part of Baramunda village," BPIA director Prasanna Pradhan said. But even if a new airport comes up, there will be mushrooming of houses and towers and other structures - which may pose a threat to aircraft - around it. "Expanding an airport or constructing a new one will boost growth and that will also lead to growth in other sectors, like real estate for instance. In case of Delhi's IGI airport as well, there are residential areas along Dwarka and Vasant Kunj end. Even the airport in Bengaluru, which is situated around 40 km from the township, now has houses coming up near it," hotelier Debashis Patnaik said. While the runway expansion plan is facing a dead end for now, BPIA is set to get a third terminal to enhance domestic operations. The proposed terminal (T3), to be constructed over a 30,000 square metre area, may pave the way for segregated handling of arrivals and departures. Currently, BPIA operates with two terminals - T1 for domestic flights and T2 for international operations.

The Hindu

40 minutes ago

• The Hindu

Cognizant to invest $183 million for new India campus, add 8,000 jobs

Software services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions will invest ₹15.82 billion ($182.76 million) to build a new campus in the southern Indian city of Vishakapatanam that will create about 8,000 jobs, the State Government announced on Friday (June 20, 2025). Commercial operations will begin in March 2029, an Andhra Pradesh Government press release said. Cognizant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The announcement comes just months after India's top IT firm, Tata Consultancy Services, unveiled plans for ₹13.70 billion campus in the same city, and is expected generate 12,000 jobs. The move aligns with Cognizant's strategy to optimise real estate costs. In May 2023, Chief Executive Ravi Kumar S. said the company would relinquish 11 million square feet of office space globally, mainly in India's largest cities, while investing in tier-2 Indian cities. Globally, IT companies, including those in India's $283 billion sector, are taking cost-cutting measures such as monetising real estate assets and delaying wage increases amid demand uncertainty. Last month, the Teaneck, New Jersey-based company raised its annual revenue forecast and beat first-quarter results driven by increased demand for AI-powered IT services. Cognizant expects 2025 annual revenue between $20.5 billion and $21.0 billion, compared to previous outlook of the midpoint of $20.30 billion to $20.80 billion. ($1 = 86.5625 Indian rupees)

Business Standard

an hour ago

• Business Standard

Air India flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai cancelled due to technical snag

After boarding, a technical snag was noticed following which the passengers were deplaned and accommodated in another Air India flight Press Trust of India Hyderabad A Mumbai-bound Air India flight from Hyderabad with 92 passengers on board was grounded and subsequently cancelled on Friday due to a technical glitch, airport sources said. After boarding, a technical snag was noticed following which the passengers were deplaned and accommodated in another Air India flight, they said. "AI 2534 to Mumbai was cancelled due to technical reasons," the sources said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)