An Air India Express flight en route from Delhi to Srinagar via Jammu made an unexpected return on Monday afternoon, officials confirmed. Flight IX-2564 was scheduled to land in Jammu around noon before proceeding to Srinagar. However, the aircraft kept hovering over the Jammu airport for some time before the pilot opted to turn back to Delhi without attempting a landing.
According to India TV, an Air India Express spokesperson said the diversion was due to a technical snag. Officials noted that both the weather and runway conditions in Jammu were clear at the time. It appears the pilot was unable to identify the appropriate landing approach, despite conditions being favourable, an official said.
This incident comes amid a wave of operational challenges for Air India, following a recent crash involving its London-bound flight from Ahmedabad on June 12. In response, the airline has temporarily grounded several widebody aircraft for enhanced safety inspections mandated by India’s aviation regulator.
The airline has also announced a 15% reduction in its international widebody operations and, more recently, a 5% cut in its narrowbody network—both domestic and international—citing the need to ensure schedule reliability and avoid last-minute disruptions. Several routes, including international flights from Bengaluru and Pune to Singapore and the Mumbai–Bagdogra domestic service, have been suspended until mid-July. Additionally, frequency reductions have been implemented on 19 other key routes, including high-traffic sectors such as Delhi–Mumbai and Mumbai–Kolkata.
Even with the temporary cutbacks, Air India will still operate close to 600 narrowbody flights every day, covering around 120 domestic and short-haul international destinations. The airline is directly reaching out to passengers whose travel plans have been affected, offering them the option to rebook their flights, change their travel dates, or request a full refund.
Air India has assured that it is working towards restoring its full schedule as early as possible, while continuing to place the safety of its passengers, crew, and aircraft at the forefront.
The airline has also said it is carrying out additional voluntary pre-flight inspections that go beyond what is currently required by aviation regulators. These extra checks come at a time when many of its international flights are already experiencing longer durations due to restricted airspace in parts of West Asia.