Air India flight from Delhi to Paris cancelled after issues found in pre-flight checks
Days after the Ahmedabad plane crash, another Air India plane has been cancelled. As per a spokesperson, flight AI 143 from Delhi to Paris was cancelled after the pre-flight checks revealed certain issues in the aircraft.
'Flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris of 17 June has been cancelled. The mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed. 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...We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by the passengers. Consequently, flight AI142 from Paris to Delhi on June 17, 2025 also stands cancelled,' an Air India spokesperson was quoted as saying by ANI.
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Business Standard
9 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Air India cancels, delays global flights amid safety inspections, audits
Several of Air India's international flights faced cancellations or delays on Tuesday, primarily due to its B787 aircraft undergoing mandatory safety inspections ordered by India's aviation regulator in the wake of last week's deadly crash of flight AI171 in Ahmedabad. However, operational stress was compounded by weather-related disruptions, airspace restrictions and crew duty-time limitations, all of which added further strain to the airline's widebody network. The crash, which killed 241 passengers and crew and at least 24 people on the ground last Thursday, prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to mandate an immediate 'enhanced safety inspection' of Air India's entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, comprising 34 aircraft. Though the bulk of these inspections were completed by Tuesday, their impact continued to reverberate across the airline's operations. 'It's not that every cancellation is due to the safety inspections, but there's no denying that the fleet-wide checks have strained availability and turnaround times,' a senior Air India official said. On Tuesday, Air India cancelled flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris after its pre-flight checks identified an issue. 'The mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed. 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,' the airline said. The return flight from Paris to Delhi on 18 June was also cancelled as a result. Flight AI159 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was cancelled due to longer-than-usual turnaround times. In a separate statement, the airline clarified: 'Flight AI159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick has been cancelled today due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, and not due to any technical snag as claimed.' Air India added that it had arranged alternative travel, hotel stays and full refunds or rescheduling for passengers. Other affected services on Tuesday included cancellations of AI153 (Delhi–Vienna), AI133 (Bengaluru–London) and AI915 (Delhi–Dubai). AI145 (Goa–London) faced a delay of over 90 minutes, while AI148 (Paris–Delhi) and AI2026 (Frankfurt–Delhi) were delayed by about two hours each. The Sydney–Delhi flight (AI301) departed more than two and a half hours behind schedule. Domestically, flight AI424 from Ahmedabad to Delhi was delayed by over five hours. The ripple effect has extended to scheduled services for Wednesday, with AI169 (Amritsar–London Gatwick), AI151 (Delhi–Zurich) and AI308 (Delhi–Melbourne) all cancelled. According to another Air India official, the inspection process itself was taking time. 'If the checks find anything even slightly off, rectification has to happen then and there, and that takes additional time,' the person said. Further complications arose when such delays caused flight crews to exceed Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), which are a set of mandatory limits on how many hours pilots and cabin crew can be on duty or fly within a given period, designed to ensure they are adequately rested. If a crew runs out of FDTL hours, the flight must be delayed or cancelled unless a replacement crew is available. Unfavourable weather in several parts of the country, including Delhi, as well as ongoing airspace restrictions over Pakistan and parts of the Middle East amid the Israel–Iran conflict, further narrowed operational flexibility on Tuesday. Air India did not issue an official statement to Business Standard on this matter.
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
Plane shortage and snags: Air India cancels nine long hauls today, mostly on Dreamliners
NEW DELHI: Air India on Tuesday cancelled at least eight international flights to be operated on Boeing 787 Dreamliner and one on a B777. The B787 cancellations were for: Ahmedabad-London Gatwick; Gatwick-Amritsar; Delhi to Vienna, Paris and Dubai; Bangalore-London & return and Paris-Delhi. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A Boeing 777 (not a Dreamliner) operating San Francisco (SFO)-Kolkata (where it takes a fuelling halt)-Mumbai on Tuesday was found to have a technical issue in Kolkata and was grounded there. As a result, the Mumbai-SFO it was to operate was cancelled. Similarly, for the Dreamliners, the return sectors were impacted too, except Vienna, where a B787 was parked to operate to Delhi. After the Ahmedabad crash, AI now has 33 Dreamliners, of which four are under major maintenance. About 24 of the 29 B787s have undergone the DGCA-ordained one-time checks. What has further compounded matters for AI is the even longer routes to and from the west after the Israel-Iran war, as Iran's airspace has been closed along with others like Jordan. That has increased flying time by about an hour. Also, this means pilots and cabin crew have to fly longer due to which AI has sought relaxation from DGCA to make them work longer than the stipulated norms set for safety to ensure the crew is not fatigued. As and when the DGCA withdraws this crew time duty limitation, which stressed pilots are now hoping for, crew shortage will add to the problem. So AI now has fewer Dreamliners (which are operated to Europe/UK/Far East and Australia). Also, the airline has majorly expanded routes in about last two years while new aircraft induction has been slower than expected due to global supply chain issues. As a result, the airline has stretched itself thin that affects on time performance as there's hardly any buffer if an aircraft — with the old ones having a lower than optimal technical despatch reliability — has to be grounded for technical reason. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Meanwhile about Tuesday' cancellations, AI said: 'AI159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (which used to be AI 171 earlier) cancelled due to unavailability of aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft. Consequently, flight AI170 from London Gatwick to Amritsar of June 17 stands cancelled.' 'AI143 from Delhi to Paris of June 17 cancelled. Mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed. 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. Consequently, flight AI142 from Paris to Delhi on June 18, 2025 also stands cancelled,' AI said in a statement. While Delhi-Vienna was canceled Tuesday, there was a Dreamliner in the Austrian capital which is expected to operate the flight to Delhi on Tuesday. So the return lag was not cancelled. AI is making 'alternative arrangements to fly (passengers) to their destination at the earliest. We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by the passengers. '
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Several Boeing 787-operated Air India flights cancelled on Tuesday amid DGCA-mandated enhanced technical checks
Various Boeing 787-operated flights of Air India were cancelled Tuesday as the enhanced safety inspections mandated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) led to delays and non-availability of aircraft in most cases, according to sources in the know. As per flight tracking data, at least nine Air India flights that were to be operated using the Boeing 787 aircraft have been cancelled so far on Tuesday. These include AI-143 (Delhi-Paris), AI-159 (Ahmedabad-London Gatwick), AI-915 (Delhi-Dubai), AI-153 (Delhi-Vienna), and AI-133 (Bengaluru-London). In most of these cases, as the flight from India was cancelled, it led to the cancellation of the return leg that was to be operated by the same aircraft. The number may rise further and in some cases, spill over to Wednesday. Following the tragic crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad on Thursday, the DGCA had directed the airline to carry out additional maintenance inspections on all 33 of its 787s. The aircraft was operating a flight between Ahmedabad and London Gatwick and had 242 people on board. All but one of those on board perished in the crash. There were several casualties on the ground as well. The enhanced checks ordered by the DGCA include a one-time pre-departure check of aircraft systems and parameters including fuel parameters monitoring and associated system, cabin air compressor and associated systems, electronic engine control system, engine fuel-driven actuator and oil system, hydraulic system serviceability, and take-off parameters. Additionally, flight control inspection was to be introduced in transit inspection till further notice. Power assurance checks were also mandated. On Saturday, Air India had announced that the checks were being performed, and informed passengers that some of these could 'lead to higher turnaround time and potential delays on certain long-haul routes, especially those to airports with operating curfews'. On Tuesday, the carrier's Delhi-Paris flight (AI-143) was cancelled because the 'mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue'. While the issue was 'being addressed', given that the Paris airport has a night curfew—restrictions on operations at night—the airline had to cancel the flight, Air India said. Consequently, the return flight AI-142 from Paris to Delhi was also cancelled. On the cancellation of flight AI-159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, an Air India spokesperson said that it was cancelled 'due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions (in West Asia) and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft'. There was speculation that the flight was cancelled due to a technical snag with the aircraft, but Air India denied that. Consequently, flight AI-170 from London Gatwick to Amritsar was also cancelled as the same aircraft was to operate this flight. Similarly, Delhi-Dubai flight (AI-915) and the return flight (AI-916) were cancelled, and so were the Bengaluru-London flight (AI-133) and its return leg (AI-132). In these cases, too, the aircraft that were to operate these flights were not available due to delays or being deployed on other sectors amid the fleet-wide enhanced checks, per sources. Air India's Delhi-Vienna flight (AI-153) was also cancelled. In addition to these 787-operated flights, the airline's Mumbai-San Francisco flight (AI-179) — operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft — was also cancelled as the plane that had to operate the flight was unavailable due to technical issues. It had developed a snag during a technical halt at the Kolkata airport during its previous flight from San Francisco to Mumbai. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More
