Over 100 New Delhi-bound passengers of an Air India flight have been stranded in Thailand’s Phuket for over 80 hours now after several delays due to technical faults, according to multiple posts put out by passengers on social media. NDTV has reached out to the airline for a response, but it is yet to get back.

According to the passengers, the flight was scheduled to take off for Delhi on the night of November 16. But the airline’s representatives informed the passengers of a six-hour delay due to a technical fault. The passengers allege that after being made to wait for hours at the airport, they were asked to board the plane, only to be deboarded an hour later. The flight was cancelled.

The passengers included elderly and children. The next the plane was prepped for a flight. The passengers say they were told that it was the same plane, but the fault had been fixed. The plane took off and about two-and-a-half hours after take-off, it landed back at Phuket and the passengers were again told that there was a technical fault . Since then, the passengers have been stuck at Phuket.

New Delhi:

An Air India flight operating from Mumbai to New York was diverted to New Delhi this morning following a security concern. The flight, with 239 on board, made an emergency landing at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, where all passengers and crew members were safely evacuated.

“Flight AI119 operating from Mumbai to JFK on October 14 received a specific security alert and on instructions of the government’s security regulatory committee was diverted to Delhi. All passengers have disembarked and are at the Delhi airport terminal,” an Air India spokesperson said. 

READ | Exclusive: How Air India Express Pilots Handled Mid-Air Scare Over Trichy

The aircraft was parked on an isolation runway at the airport, and security agencies, including a bomb squad team, conducted thorough checks. Standard safety protocols are being followed to ensure the safety of all individuals involved, according to a senior police official.

“The aircraft is currently stationed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and all standard safety protocols are being diligently followed to ensure the safety of the passengers and crew on board,” a senior police officer said.

Air India has not yet provided further details, and investigations are ongoing. Authorities are working closely with security personnel to verify the nature of the threat, while passengers and crew await further instructions.

Thiruvananthapuram:

A full emergency was declared at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport today following a bomb threat on an Air India flight from Mumbai, airport sources said.

The flight landed at the airport around 8 am and was moved to an isolation bay, they said.

Passengers are being evacuated from the flight, they said.

The bomb threat was communicated by the pilot as the aircraft approached the Thiruvananthapuram airport, the sources said.

There were 135 passengers onboard, they said, adding details on the origin of the threat and other information are awaited. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Air India flight, which was earlier diverted to Russia, took off for San Francisco from Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA), the airline said in a post on social media platfrom X.

*UPDATE #5: FLIGHT AI1179 TAKES OFF FOR SAN FRANCISCO FROM KRASNOYARSK*

AI1179 departed Krasnoyarsk (KJA) at 0002 Hrs local time (20 July) for San Francisco (SFO), carrying all passengers and crew of AI183 that was diverted to KJA.

Air India has mobilised additional on-ground…

— Air India (@airindia) July 19, 2024

The airline said, “AI1179 departed Krasnoyarsk (KJA) at 0002 Hrs local time (20 July) for San Francisco (SFO), carrying all passengers and crew of AI183 that was diverted to KJA”.

“Air India has mobilised additional on-ground support at SFO to carry out the clearance formalities for all passengers upon arrival. The team at SFO are prepared to provide all necessary assistance to the passengers, including but not limited to medical care, ground transportation, and onward connections in applicable cases,” the airline added.

Earlier, the Indian Embassy in Moscow said that an Embassy team of three senior officials and an interpreter is on the ground in Krasnoyarsk to assist the 225 passengers and 19 members of the Air India flight AI1-83, which made an emergency landing on Thursday.

The statement said that the Indian officials will stay on the ground till the replacement plane arrives and takes all the passengers.

Earlier, the airline had said that “Food and beverage amenities at the terminal, which were closed for the evening, have now opened and meals are being provided to all passengers. Representatives from the Indian consulate in Moscow have travelled overnight and are working with Russian authorities to allow passengers to move to hotels, which have been on standby throughout the night. Regulatory clearances have been obtained for a relief flight that will depart Mumbai at 1100 hrs IST and ferry the guests out of Krasnoyarsk International Airport later today. Air India regrets the inconvenience to passengers arising from this diversion, which was undertaken in the interest of safety.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Air India’s Vancouver flight from Delhi of June 1 finally departed at 3.15 a.m. on June 2 after a delay of nearly 22 hours, a source said.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Air India’s Vancouver flight from Delhi of June 1 finally departed at 3.15 a.m. on June 2 after a delay of nearly 22 hours, a source said.

The flight was scheduled to take off at 5.30 a.m. on June 1 but a “technical” issue forced the airline to reschedule it.

“The Delhi-Vancouver flight of Air India, which was to depart on Saturday morning, finally left at around 3.15 a.m. on Sunday,” the source said.

“AI 185…was delayed because of technical issues and subsequently due to crew coming under the mandatory Flight Duty Time Limitations,” an Air India spokesperson had said in a statement on June 1.

This was at least the third time in the last one week that Air India’s ultra-long haul flights had to face inordinate delay for one reason or the other.

Earlier, after a delay of more than 30 hours, the airline’s Delhi-San Francisco flight, which was originally scheduled to depart at around 1530 hrs on May 30, took off at 2155 hrs the next day.

However, despite the passengers’ plight due to the massive delay, Tata Group-owned Air India did not issue any official statement.

“If there is a privatisation story that has failed it is @airindia @DGCAIndia AI 183 flight has been delayed for over 8 hours , passengers were made to board the plane without air conditioning, and then deplaned after some people fainted in the flight.This is inhuman! @JM_Scindia,” Shweta Punj, a journalist had said in a post on X on May 30 night.

Air India, which was earlier under the ownership of the Indian government, was privatised and handed over to Tata Group in January 2022.

On May 30, the airline apologised and offered a travel voucher of $350 each to the passengers of the San Francisco flight for the huge delay, owing to multiple factors including non-functioning of the Boeing 777 aircraft’s air-conditioning system.

The previous day, aviation regulator DGCA issued a show cause notice to Air India for some flight delays and failure to take due care of the passengers.

In the show cause notice, the watchdog mentioned the inordinate delay of two international flights — AI 183 from Delhi to San Francisco on May 30 and AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco on May 24.

A passenger on a Delhi-Bengaluru flight slammed Air India after receiving a broken window seat despite paying additional money for it. The incident happened on Thursday, April 4 when the passenger noticed the broken seat, following which the airline enlisted the help of an engineer. The engineer, however, could not fix the broken seat, the passenger claimed. He further questioned Air India for their poor services and asked why the airline couldn’t even provide a proper seat for passengers. 

“Paid extra 1k for a broken window seat (22A) on Air India AI512 from DEL to BLR on 4th Apr. They called the engineer to fix it, but he couldn’t. Is this what I paid the flight fare for? Can’t I at least expect a proper seat after paying so much?” the passenger wrote on X and also tagged Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Ministry Civil Aviation. 

See the post here:

Paid extra 1k for a broken window seat (22A) on Air India AI512 from DEL to BLR on 4th Apr. They called the engineer to fix it, but he couldn’t. Is this what I paid the flight fare for? Can’t I atleast expect a proper seat after paying so much? @airindia@DGCAIndia@Ministry_CApic.twitter.com/j2vxlcRbnt

— Name cannot be blank (@Kaijee04) April 6, 2024

Air India replied to the passenger’s tweet and asked him for the booking details. They later assured him that the airline would investigate the matter and take corrective action.

”Hi, thank you for sharing the details. Your feedback is crucial, and we apologize for falling short of expectations. We’ll investigate the matter and take corrective action. Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” the airline wrote. 

Hi, thank you for sharing the details. Your feedback is crucial, and we apologize for falling short of expectations. We’ll investigate the matter and take corrective action. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

— Air India (@airindia) April 6, 2024

In January this year, Shreyti Garg, a content creator, also highlighted the subpar in-flight facilities despite the expensive ticket prices. Travelling with her 2.5-year-old and seven-month-old kids, Ms Garg expressed disappointment as the in-flight entertainment and lights for three seats weren’t working, leaving her and her family in the dark. The broken seats and lack of entertainment made the journey less pleasant than expected, prompting her to share her concerns in an Instagram video.