Air India cancels London flight over aircraft unavailability

AIR INDIA’s flight from Ahmedabad to London, operating under a new code following the June 12 crash, was cancelled on Tuesday (17) due to the unavailability of an aircraft. The airline cited airspace restrictions and precautionary checks as the cause.

The service, now listed as flight AI-159, replaced the earlier AI-171 flight which crashed shortly after take-off last Thursday (12), killing 270 people, including 29 on the ground. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had 242 passengers and crew on board, with only one survivor.

An Air India spokesperson denied reports of a technical issue and confirmed the cancellation was due to extended turnaround times caused by airspace restrictions. Iran’s closure of its airspace amid its war with Israel has affected flight routes to Europe.

“Flight AI-159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (London) has been cancelled on Tuesday due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual aircraft turnaround — not due to any technical snag as claimed,” the spokesperson said.

“We regret the inconvenience caused and have made alternative arrangements for passengers, including hotel accommodation, full refunds, or complimentary rescheduling.”

The flight was scheduled to depart at 3pm after an earlier rescheduling from 1.10pm. According to the airline’s website, the first post-crash flight under the new code took off at 4.10pm on Monday (16), after a three-hour delay, and landed in London at 9.45pm.

Airport sources confirmed that the AI-171 service was suspended following the fatal crash and resumed operations on Monday under the new code. The return flight AI-160 landed in Ahmedabad as scheduled on Tuesday afternoon.

Due to Tuesday's cancellation, Air India also cancelled the return service, AI-170, from London (Gatwick) to Amritsar.

(PTI)