The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a report from Air India after a scheduled flight, which was supposed to ferry the 2024 T20 World Cup champions Team India, from Barbados, was cancelled.
The move comes after reports emerged that the airline’s grounding of the Boeing 777 flight, which was originally scheduled to operate from Newark to New Delhi, had caused difficulties for passengers.
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DGCA seeks report from Air India over cancellation of Team India rescue flight
Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation expert, said the cancellation of a flight is a cause of serious concern and a violation of DGCA aviation rules.
“The regulator has asked Air India to provide a report to establish the facts,” one of the DGCA officials involved in the matter was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
An airline official connected with the matter confirmed that the BCCI had contacted Air India after the flight was cancelled.
“The airline that was originally supposed to carry the Indian cricket team had to cancel its flight, following which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approached Air India. That is when the B777 was chosen for the task,” the airline official said.
However, the airline official also confirmed that the passengers were informed of the cancellation in advance. Passengers who could not be informed were taken to New York by road and boarded the New York-Delhi flight.
“All passengers who booked the Newark-Delhi flight were informed well in advance and even given an alternative, minimising the inconvenience caused,” the official said.
“Even after this, some passengers could not be informed about the flight cancellation and so they reported to the airport. However, they were taken to New York by road and were accommodated in the New York-Delhi flight,” he added.
When informed by the passengers, one of them named Ankur Verma, who was booked on flight AI 106, claimed that he had not been informed or compensated for the cancellation and had to rebook a ticket on American Airlines.
“I had to book another ticket on American Airlines…” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The passenger’s complaint prompted the DGCA to seek a report from Air India to verify the facts, another airline official said.
Team India to be congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Indian team flight took off from Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados, on July 2 at 4:50 am local time. They arrived in New Delhi on July 4 at 6:11 am US Eastern Standard Time.
The flight with the callsign AIC24WC departed from Barbados carrying the Indian team, coaching staff, BCCI officials and some Indian journalists. The callsign stands for Air India Champions 24 World Cup.
The team will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few hours after their arrival in Delhi. After a felicitation programme at the Prime Minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, the team will fly to Mumbai where they will stage a victory celebration from the NCPA to the Wankhede Stadium.
India defeated South Africa by 7 runs in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup and won an ICC tournament after 11 years. This was the second T20 World Cup trophy for India after their first title in 2007.
