Air India Ahmedabad-Gatwick flight postponed due to ‘airspace restrictions, added precautionary checks'
Operational delays due to 'multiple disruptions' in global aviation routes led an Air India Ahmedabad-Gatwick flight on Tuesday to being postponed.
Officials of Air India confirmed to The Indian Express that the flight, which was scheduled to take off at 1.10 pm, will now depart on Wednesday.
A spokesperson said that the move happened '… 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 official speaking on the condition of anonymity said, 'The Ahmedabad-Gatwick flight is preceded by Amsterdam to New Delhi and New Delhi to Ahmedabad in the sector. Since the incoming flight (AI-156) from Amsterdam to New Delhi was delayed by over two hours, the New Delhi-Ahmedabad flight could not take off in time on Tuesday and therefore the subsequent flight to Gatwick (AI-159) was cancelled as it would not be able to fly out in the designated time window that is permissible after a delay.'
He said that multiple disruptions in several sectors had caused flight delays: 'There has been a baggage issue at one of the busiest airports in Europe, combined with delays on the Middle East sector due to airspace closure over Iran and Israel. Therefore, operations have been impacted causing delays on the international route. Once a flight is delayed beyond a certain period, some sectors are asked to reschedule the flights for the next day.'
The official added that following the crash on June 12, the flight, which was originally scheduled to depart on Saturday, was 'cancelled' to allow the airline time to streamline its changed flight number from AI-171 to AI-159 and for other 'formalities' due to the crash. Later, Saturday's cancelled flight was cleared for flying and took off on Monday.
'The passengers have booked tickets several weeks in advance and the operations on the route will continue as per schedule even as we come to terms with the loss and tragedy that occurred on June 12… So, AI-159, as it is now numbered, will fly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday every week as scheduled,' the official added.
The Air India spokesperson said, 'We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers… We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by the passengers.'
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