Air India To Operate Special Flight After Passengers Stranded In Milan Ahead Of Diwali

Air India on Sunday said that it will operate a flight from Italy's Milan to Delhi today after over 250 passengers were stranded following the flight cancellation on Friday due to a technical issue with the Dreamliner aircraft.

The airline said that the flight will accommodate passengers of flight AI138. The Sunday flight AI138D will take off from Milan at 1900 hours local time and land in Delhi on the morning of October 20.

In a statement, the airline said, "To ensure that the affected passengers can return home to India in time for the festive occasion, our teams expedited the rectification process on the aircraft at Milan and secured the necessary approvals to operate an additional commercial flight, AI138D, departing Milan at 1900 hours local time and arriving in Delhi on the morning of 20 October".

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After the flight was cancelled, the affected passengers were informed that they could only be accommodated on a flight on the day of Diwali or later, which prompted social media reactions.

The passengers complained about the lack of adequate facilities. Now the airline has said that they are proactively reaching out to the affected passengers, who rebooked their flight on later dates, to provide them with an option to either maintain the existing bookings or switch to the additional flight operating today.

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Earlier on Saturday, the airline issued a statement about the Milan light cancellation, saying that the passengers have been rebooked on alternative flights on or after October 20, based on seat availability with Air India and other airlines.

"Specifically, one of the passengers, whose Schengen visa expires on 20 October, has been rebooked on another airline's flight departing Milan on 19 October to ensure compliance with her visa validity," Air India had said.

(With PTI Inputs)