www.uninews.com

Air-India passengers stranded at Riyadh airport for 26 hrs

Dubai, Sept 7 (UNI) About 320 Air-India passengers bound for Kozhikode were stranded at Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia for nearly 26 hours before being shifted to city hotels.

An airline official said the cancellation of the flight followed ‘‘some delay’’ in Mumbai, but passengers told the local press that they were at the airport on Tuesday night for their flight at 0415 hrs local time but the announcement about the cancellation came only after the boarding passes were issued.

Passengers from far off places were hungry and thirsty as they waited at the King Khaled International Airport yesterday.

An airline official, who preferred not to be named, admitted that the national carrier had been ignoring the highly-profitable Saudi-Indian sector for quite some time.

Air-India currently operates nine weekly flights from Riyadh and the total number of flights from Saudi Arabia to India stands at 31. 

Air India in big trouble?

This is just unbelievable. Praful Patel himself admits that AI will be in big s_____.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=140688

A-I may review overseas schedules as aircraft lease period expires 
 
CORPORATE BUREAU
Posted online: Monday, September 18, 2006 at 0000 hours IST 
  
 
NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, SEPT 17:  National carrier Air-India (A-I) might have to review its trans-Atlantic and UK flight schedules as the lease period of four of its long-haul aircraft are coming to an end in November 2006. Unfortunately, it's the beginning of the peak season and the company is finding it increasingly difficult to lease new aircraft.
The four 747 aircraft are operating flights on international high density routes like the United States, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, according to an industry source.

Air-India had leased the four Boeing 747 long haul aircraft in 2003 whose lease ends in November-December, 2006.

Air India operates 50-odd flights with a fleet of 43 aircraft. These include 19 Airbus A-310, 14 Boeing 747, 4 Boeing-777 and 4 Boeing 737-800 that fly to over 50 destinations daily.

Air-India is still negotiating to extend the lease period. "November to February is the peak period for West bound traffic. If the lease period fails to get extended, this would mean loss in revenue and also the market share," the source said. "The airline will then have to reschedule or lessen the frequency of some of the flights to these countries," the source added.

Update:

Air India flight makes landing in emergency conditions

 New Delhi, Sept 18 (UNI)

An Air India aircraft with 88 passengers on board today suffered a bird-hit as it took off from the Delhi airport for Los Angeles via Frankfurt.

 The aircraft returned and landed safely with a damaged engine as full emergency procedures were put in place at the IGI Airport, airline sources said.

 The engine would have to be replaced, the sources said.

 They said the passengers of the AI-137 were sent to different hotels by the Air India staff and efforts were on to accommodate them in the flights of other carriers.

 Last week, an Air India plane took off and landed under emergency conditions as it was on its way to the US to re-fit one of its engines. It was not carrying any passengers.

 Air India planes have lately been suffering from engine defects, causing cancellation and clubbing of a large number of its international flights.

karatecatman wrote:

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September666.xml&section=subcontinent

Bird hit Air India flight makes emergency landing
(AP)

18 September 2006

NEW DELHI — An Air India flight bound for Frankfurt was forced to return to New Delhi and make and emergency landing on Monday after a bird hit and damaged an engine, the airport said. There were no injuries.

The Indira Gandhi International airport went onto emergency footing as the plane, flight AI-137, landed there.

No further details were immediately available.

The airport has recently turned to wildlife agencies to help find a method to clear the birds form the area, the Times Of India newspaper reported.

The airport is plagued by bird strikes because it is situated near a neighbourhood that has dozens of outdoor meat shops that attract the birds. Also, inefficient garbage collection draws the birds to the area.o

Reports are that it is wither 747-400 SUNDERBANS or AGRA.

-- Edited by karatecatman at 13:47, 2006-09-18

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It was VT-AIM aka sunderbans which was operating the flight.

Cheers,

Mayank

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2007854.cms
Broken pipe in loo grounds AI plane
[ 20 Sep, 2006 0056hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
 
 
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates

NEW DELHI: The Maharaja of Indian skies seems to have the knack of flirting with security lapses.

After ending up with egg on its face in the case of pilferage on-board PM's flight, Air India is now staring at another potential security lapse with a passenger on its Toronto-India flight discovering a broken piece of pipe inside a "sanitised" aircraft toilet.

The incident occurred on AI-188, which was headed for Delhi via Amritsar, on Monday night. According to sources, the aircraft with 164 passengers on board, took off on time from Toronto.

After an hour of being air-borne, a passenger discovered a broken pipe inside the toilet and brought it back to the cabin to show it to the crew.

"The pilot was immediately alerted about the incident, who, in turn, checked with the ground staff and decided to return to Toronto as a safety measure." The incident once again highlighted the terror scare in the skies and Air India's security holes.

There have been instances when aircraft toilets have been used to assemble bombs. In 1994, a nitroglycerine bomb was assembled in the toilet of a Philippine Airline flight.

The terrorist disembarked, leaving the bomb to explode. An AI spokesman said the incident was being probed.

"Nothing amiss was found during the check but we have no clue how the broken pipe ended up inside," he said. Bomb disposal squad was deployed to examine the aircraft interiors, a source said.

Passenger reactions:

www.uninews.com

Nervous passengers spent 16 hrs not knowing what was happening
Toronto, Sep 20 (UNI)

The 149 passengers of the Air India flight, which was forced to return an hour after take off following detection of a suspicious package onboard, spent a ‘‘nervous’’ 16 hours in a ‘‘secure’’ building at the airport even after it was found that the packet did not contain explosives.
Passengers said they were given little information about why Flight 188, bound for New Delhi via Birmingham, England, was turned around near Montreal yesterday.
Eleven crew members and 149 passengers were evacuated from the Boeing 777 jet when it reached Pearson International Airport at about 11:25 P M local time. A police robot detonated the package yesterday but found nothing suspicious or threatening inside, only small tools that police said were ‘‘uniquely packaged.’’
Scott Armstrong, of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said passengers had been kept ‘‘in a secure building’’ away from Pearson’s three main terminals.
Shortly before noon, the airline gave passengers a voucher for a daytime stay at an airport-area hotel and USD15 for meals. ‘‘It all happened so quickly, we just didn’t know what was happening,’’ said Lenora Winer of Toronto, who was flying to England with husband Lorne to visit their son.
She said passengers were kept pretty much in the dark while officials checked passports and searched baggage. ‘‘It was tiring, it was long, it was frustrating,’’ Winer said, before heading home for a nap and then returning for last night’s flight. ‘‘I wish they had given us more information and told us what was happening, but I think, you know, for security reasons they just couldn’t or there might have been some panic, too.’’
Both Winer and Kiran Khaira of Birmingham admitted their thoughts immediately turned to Kanishka bombing in which an Air India flight crashed over the Atlantic killing 331 people in 1985.
‘‘Everyone was quite nervous, wondering what was going on, (and were) getting stressed out,’’ said Khaira, 24, heading home after a two-week vacation in Toronto. ‘‘When I came out of the plane, I kept thinking that any minute something was going to happen. I’m quite glad that they made the right decision to come back.’’
Peel Const. Pete Brandwood said a passenger alerted a flight attendant after spotting the package in the bathroom. She, in turn, notified the captain.
‘‘The captain contacted Navigation Canada, and they determined to bring the plane back to Toronto and the passengers were disembarked without incident,’’ he said. The package was removed and X-rayed by a remote-controlled robot, but because officers couldn’t determine exactly what was inside, they blew it up.
Police said they are continuing to probe how the package made it on board.
‘‘It’s unfortunate, but in today’s travel climate heightened awareness has to be there,’’ Brandwood said. ‘‘It’s better to be safe than sorry. ‘‘The crew did what they felt was necessary at the time and, although it’s an inconvenience to the passengers, it was done to ensure everyone’s safety.’’

Aseem wrote:

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will AI learn from their 1973 ads?? There weren't any Aunties then..

eBay

rgds

VT-ASJ

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In fact, the young ladies who were the face of Air India in 1973 seem to be still serving the airline.....lol....

so, in effect the same young ladies of 1973 are now aunties in 2006

Aseem wrote:

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 will AI learn from their 1973 ads?? There weren't any Aunties then..

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vivekman wrote:

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In fact, the young ladies who were the face of Air India in 1973 seem to be still serving the airline.....lol....

so, in effect the same young ladies of 1973 are now aunties in 2006

Aseem wrote:

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 will AI learn from their 1973 ads?? There weren't any Aunties then..

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Most of the aunties are on the VVIP flights now......