Air India cancelled eight international flights on Tuesday, taking the total such cancellations–due to mid-air technical glitches or non-availability of aircraft–to nine in the past 48 hours.
The airline has been mandated to conduct additional checks on all its 787-8 Dreamliners by the regulator following the plane crash on June 12, which killed 241 of 242 on board.
While a Delhi to Paris flight was cancelled after the mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue, an Ahmedabad to London (Gatwick) flight had to be cancelled because an aircraft was not made available in time. Return flights to India that were to be serviced by these flights also had to be cancelled subsequently.
“Flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris on June 17 has been cancelled. The 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,” an Air India spokesperson said.
Consequently, flight AI142 from Paris to Delhi on June 17, 2025 was also cancelled.
Air India planned to restart Ahmedabad-London flight from today, which would have been the first after the deadly crash. However, flight AI159–which was to be the replacement for the ill-fated AI171 Ahmedabad-London flight–was cancelled by the airline.
“Flight AI159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick has been cancelled today due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft, and not due to any technical snag as claimed,” a spokesperson said.
AI170 from London Gatwick to Amritsar for June 17 was also cancelled since the Ahmedabad to London flight was to become the return flight from there to Amritsar.
Air India added that alternative arrangements to fly the passengers to their destination were being made in addition to providing hotel accommodation and offer of full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by the passengers.
Other cancelled Air India flights are Delhi to Dubai and Bengaluru to London, both of which were to be serviced by 787-8 Dreamliners. A Mumbai to San Francisco flight was also cancelled, but it was to be serviced by a Boeing 777. The flight developed a technical issue upon landing at Kolkata from San Francisco earlier today.
On June 16, a British Airways London (Heathrow) to Chennai Boeing 787-8 had to turn around and return to its origin after its captain reported a ‘flap adjustment failure’. The crew decided to dump fuel before attempting to land.
On the same day, another 787-8 belonging to Air India and bound for Delhi developed an engine issue within 90 minutes in its flights forcing the pilots to return to the Hong Kong International Airport. The flight was later cancelled for the day.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) late last week had ordered mandatory checks on all the Boeing 787 fleet of Air India. These previously unscheduled checks, the airline said, were leading to delays in their deployment leading to cancellation of flights.
A DGCA order, which came into effect from June 15, sought inspection of fuel parameter monitoring and associated system checks, inspection of cabin air compressor and associated systems, electronic engine control system test, engine fuel driven actuator-operational test and oil system check, serviceability check of hydraulic system and review of takeoff parameters.
