An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London has been cancelled.
A spokesperson for the airline said the cancellation was “due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft”.
Indian-English language channel CNN News18 had earlier reported that the cancellation of the flight, which arrived from Delhi, was due to “technical issues”.
It comes after a UK-bound Air India flight catastrophically crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in western India on Thursday, killing 229 passengers and 12 crew, with one person surviving the crash.
Among the victims were several British nationals, whose deaths in the crash have now been officially confirmed, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said as he shared his condolences on X.
On Monday, the families of three of the British victims criticised the UK government’s response to the disaster, saying they “feel utterly abandoned”.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said staff were working “around the clock in the UK and India to support the families and loved ones of all those impacted by the crash”.
Yesterday, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – the same type as the aircraft involved in last week’s tragedy – had to return to Hong Kong mid-flight after a suspected technical issue.
Air India flight 159, which was cancelled on Tuesday, was also a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
It was due to depart from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.10pm local time (8.40am UK time). It was set to arrive at London’s Gatwick Airport at 6.25pm UK time.
Air India’s website shows the flight was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes before being cancelled.
As a result, passengers have been left stranded at the airport. The next flight from Ahmedabad to London is scheduled for 11.40am local time (7.10am UK time) on Wednesday.
The Air India spokesperson said passengers would be provided with hotel accommodation and full refunds or an alternative flight to their destination.
Since the flight to London was cancelled, the subsequent flight AI170 with the same aircraft from London to Amritsar was also cancelled.
