Air India Flight From Mumbai to London Delayed Over Six Hours

MUMBAI, India — An Air India flight scheduled to depart from Mumbai to London was delayed by over six hours on Saturday, November 8, due to technical difficulties.

The flight, labeled AI129, was originally set to take off at 6:30 a.m. but was pushed back to 1 p.m., according to an Air India spokesperson. The airline confirmed that passengers were provided with refreshments during the wait.

Many passengers expressed frustration over the extended delay, especially those who had been awake throughout the night for the early morning flight. One Air India official indicated that the delay stemmed from “technical issues.”

In a related incident, traffic was impacted near Air India Junction on Friday night following a collision between a taxi and a car, leading both vehicles to catch fire. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported. Traffic Police Inspector Nilesh Waje stated, “The fire department arrived at the scene and brought the fire under control.”

Flight operations at Mumbai Airport were also affected on Friday due to a glitch in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) at Delhi Airport, causing delays for hundreds of flights. Mumbai Airport issued an advisory stating that airline operations might experience delays and urged passengers to contact their airlines for updates.

By Saturday morning, the situation at Delhi Airport was improving, as the technical issue that impacted AMSS was addressed after more than 15 hours. The Delhi airport operator, DIAL, noted that airline operations were returning to normal.

Over 800 flights were delayed Friday, resulting in significant disruptions across various airports, including in cities like Jaipur and Lucknow. Despite this, operations began stabilizing by Saturday afternoon.

Earlier this week, several Air India flights also faced delays attributed to issues with check-in systems caused by a third-party connectivity network issue. Air India confirmed that the systems have since been restored.