An Air India flight from Delhi to Moscow had to return midway on Saturday after the flight developed some technical problem mid-air.
The incident took place 2-3 hours after it took-off from Delhi but the Ground Team called the flight back to Delhi after the technical problem occurred.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement in which it said, “Air India flight which is scheduled to take 143 passengers from Moscow to Jaipur today developed some technical problem mid-air after 2-3 hours of take-off from Delhi and is heading back to Delhi. The same or ano
However, Air India is yet to confirm details about the incident. The flight was part of the ”Vande Bharat Mission”, a repatriation exercise meant to help Indians stranded abroad during the coronavirus pandemic.
Commercial international flight travel is yet to resume, although domestic carriers are back in the air.
The government had suspended all civil and international flights on March 23.
A total of 513 domestic flights carrying 39,969 passengers were operated in India on Friday, according to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
It may be noted that domestic flight services resumed in India after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus lockdown. Indian carriers have operated a total of 1,827 flights till Thursday — 428 on Monday, 445 on Tuesday, 460 on Wednesday, and 494 on Thursday.
Puri said on Twitter, “Day 5. 29th May till 2359 hrs. Departures 513. 39,969 passengers handled. Arrivals 512. 39,972 passengers handled.” A departure is counted as a flight during the day.
During the pre-lockdown period, Indian airports handled around 3,000 daily domestic flights, aviation industry sources said.
In February, when the lockdown was not imposed, around 4.12 lakh passengers travelled daily through domestic flights in India, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data.
Airports in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have been allowed to handle a restricted number of daily flights as these states do not want a huge influx of flyers amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
ther aircraft will come back. Delay of several hours is expected.”