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. 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.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.”
