Mumbai-London Air India flight delayed by 7 hours; passengers stranded
What's the story
Air India flight AI129, which was scheduled to depart from Mumbai for London at 6:30am on Saturday, has been delayed by nearly seven hours due to technical issues. "Due to technical difficulties, the flight will now take off at 1 pm," the airline announced. Passengers were provided with refreshments during the wait.
Passenger impact
Passengers were initially told that boarding would be delayed
A passenger onboard the flight said they were initially told that boarding would be delayed by half an hour. Boarding eventually started at 6:00am instead of the planned time of 5:20am. After boarding, all passengers had to remain seated for about one to one-and-a-half hours before being informed that they would have to deplane due to technical issues.
Previous disruption
Technical glitch at Delhi airport on Friday
On Friday, a technical glitch at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) impacted over 800 domestic and international flights. The issue was with the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which disrupted the automatic transmission of flight plan data to air traffic controllers' screens. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirmed the "technical issue" but did not elaborate on its cause or nature.
Travel advisories
Delay in flight operations
Several airlines, including Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet, issued advisories to passengers about possible delays due to the disruptions at IGIA. Air India said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), "A technical issue with the ATC system in Delhi is impacting flight operations across all airlines, leading to delays and longer wait times at the airport and onboard aircraft."