Air India Milan-Delhi Flight Cancelled After Technical Issue Detected Pre-Take-Off | India News

New Delhi: An Air India flight from Milan to Delhi was cancelled on Saturday after a technical issue was detected just as the aircraft was preparing for take-off. In addition to the maintenance concern, the crew of flight AI138 had reached their mandatory flight duty time limit, making it unsafe and impermissible for them to proceed with the journey.

“Flight AI138 operating from Milan to Delhi on 16 August was cancelled due to a maintenance task identified during pushback, and subsequently due to the crew coming under the mandatory flight duty time limitation norms,” said an Air India spokesperson in a statement.

The airline expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the last-minute cancellation. “Air India sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen cancellation. Our ground team in Milan extended immediate assistance to all affected passengers, providing hotel accommodation and offering full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling as opted by the passengers,” the spokesperson added.

Air India confirmed that alternative travel arrangements were being organised for those affected. “At Air India, the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain top priority,” the spokesperson said.

In a separate incident on Sunday, a Delhi-bound Air India flight from Kochi aborted take-off due to another technical issue. The departure was rescheduled to 1 a.m. on Monday, and Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) was informed that the airline would be changing the aircraft for the flight.

Congress MP Hibi Eden, who was on board the Kochi-Delhi flight (AI504), posted on social media that he felt the aircraft had “skidded on the runway”.

Earlier, two other Air India flights, AI349 from Singapore to Chennai and AI500 from Bhubaneswar to Delhi, were also cancelled due to technical problems.

The Chennai-bound service was called off after a maintenance issue was discovered before departure, which required additional time to rectify. The Bhubaneswar-Delhi flight was cancelled due to an issue that caused high cabin temperatures while the aircraft was still on the ground.

(With ANI inputs)

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