Air India comes to team India rescue after BCCI's lat minute change of plan
Published - 04 Jul 2024, 10:40 AM | Updated - 04 Jul 2024, 03:21 PM
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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked for a report from Air India after a scheduled flight, which was supposed to carry the T20 World Cup 2024 champion Team India out of Barbados, was cancelled.
The step has been taken after reports that the airline's pull out of the Boeing 777 flight, which was originally scheduled to operate from Newark to New Delhi, had caused difficulties for the passengers.
DGCA seeks report from Air India for cancelling Team India's rescue flight
Mohan Ranganathan, an Aviation expert has said that the cancellation of a flight is a serious matter of concern and a violation of DGCA's aviation rules.
“The regulator has asked Air India to provide a report to establish the facts,” one of the DGCA officials related to the matter was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
An airline official who is related to this matter confirmed that the BCCI had approached Air India after the flight was canceled.
“The airline that was originally to fly the Indian cricket team had to cancel after which Air India was approached by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). This is when B777 was identified for the task,” the airline official said.
However, the airline official also confirmed that the passengers were informed about the cancellation in advance. The passengers who could not be informed were taken to New York by road and were boarded on the New York-Delhi flight.
“All the passengers booked in the Newark-Delhi flight were informed well in advance and even given an alternative, minimizing the inconvenience caused,” the official said.
“Even after this, some passengers could not be informed about the flight cancellation as a result of which they turned up at the airport. They were, however, taken to New York by road and were accommodated in the New York-Delhi flight,” he added.
When confirmed about the developments from the passengers, one of them, named Ankur Verma, who was booked on AI 106, claimed that he was neither informed nor his cancellation was compensated. He had to book another ticket on American Airlines.
“..I had to book another ticket on American Airlines...,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The passenger's complaint made the DGCA seek a report from Air India to check the facts, another airline official claimed.
Team India to be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Team India's 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 IST.
The flight with the call sign AIC24WC flew from Barbados with the Indian squad, coaching staff, BCCI officials, and some Indian media persons. The call sign stands for Air India Champions 24 World Cup.
The team will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few hours after they arrive in Delhi. After a felicitation program at the Prime Minister's residence at Lok Kalyan Marg, the team will fly to Mumbai, where they will carry a victory rally from NCPA to the Wankhede Stadium.
India defeated South Africa by 7 runs in the T20 World Cup 2024 final to win an ICC tournament after 11 years. This was India's second T20 World Cup trophy after their first title came in 2007.
