Air India on Tuesday cancelled six international flights, including London-Amritsar and Delhi-Dubai, due to varied reasons and enhanced checks of its aircraft fleet. The other Air India flights cancelled during the day are Bengaluru-London, Delhi-Vienna, Delhi-Paris and Mumbai-San Francisco, according to the airline.
Earlier in the day, Air India cancelled its Ahmedabad-London Gatwick flight on account of non-availability of aircraft. The airline said this is part of DGCA checks of all Air India flights across India. Notably, Air India operates B 787-8 Dreamliners to the UK and Europe.
Air India on Tuesday cancelled its San Francisco-Mumbai flight at its scheduled stopover in Kolkata on Tuesday after one of its engines developed a technical snag, officials told news agency PTI.
Chaotic scenes at Kolkata airport
The termination of the airline led to chaotic scenes at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata as the 211 passengers on the Boeing 777-200 LR tried to convince officials to let them reach their destination at the earliest.
There were 228 people on board the aircraft, including pilots and crew. The flight was originally scheduled to depart to Mumbai from Kolkata at 2 AM on Tuesday.
The Tata Group-owned carrier did not issue an official statement till the filing of the report. The incident came days after an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed seconds after take-off, killing over 270 people onboard and on the ground on June 12.
Air India making special arrangements for passengers
Sources told PTI that Air India is making "special arrangements" to fly the stranded passengers to Mumbai. No further details were available.
All the passengers were given breakfast, and, according to their preferences, many were transferred to hotels, while efforts were on to accommodate other passengers on alternative flights to Mumbai, an Air India official said.
Passengers shifted to hotel near airport
Later, an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official in Kolkata said that the majority of passengers have been shifted to a hotel near the airport, while a few have been accommodated at another.
Usually, the carrier flies directly to Mumbai from San Francisco but the ongoing geopolitical events, including closure of Pakistani airspace, have led AI to reroute it and take a "technical halt" in Kolkata. Flight AI180 landed in Kolkata at the scheduled time of 12.45 am, even though it took off one hour late from San Francisco.
“You cannot disembark passengers or upload fresh food on board during such tech stops, as per rules and regulations,” the Air India official told PTI.
AAI Officials at the Kolkata airport said that the technical problem was detected at the port side (left) engine of the aircraft.
Technical issue detected during post-landing checks
Sources further said that a technical issue was detected during routine post-landing checks, and the airline decided to do a comprehensive check.
Though it was scheduled to depart for Mumbai at 2 am, 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, 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.
IndiGo flight diverted to Nagpur for security concerns
In the meantime, IndiGo airline said due to a security concern, IndiGo flight 6E1272 flying from Muscat to Kochi was diverted to Nagpur when it was operating its subsequent sector from Kochi to Delhi as 6E2706 on June 17.
“We confirm receiving a security concern pertaining to IndiGo flight 6E1272 flying from Muscat to Kochi when the aircraft was operating its subsequent sector from Kochi to Delhi as 6E2706 on 17 June 2025. Following the protocol, the relevant authorities were immediately informed, and the aircraft was diverted to Nagpur. The flight safely landed at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur and all customers were disembarked,” IndiGo Spokesperson said.
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