AI cancels Newark-Delhi flight to carry cricketers; DGCA seeks report

India captain Rohit Sharma (right) and Suryakumar Yadav pose with the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2024 trophy aboard the Air India flight to Delhi | Photo: PTI

2 min read Last update : 03 Jul 2024 | 22:12 IST

The T20 World Cup-winning Indian team finally left for New Delhi on an Air India (AI) chartered flight on Wednesday after being stranded in the Caribbean islands for the last three days due to Hurricane Beryl.

There is a trap.

AI on Tuesday cancelled its scheduled Newark-Delhi flight and converted it into a charter flight to carry the Indian cricket team at the request of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The special Air India flight AIC24WC (Air India Champions 24 World Cup) took off at around 4:50 am local time from Grantley Adams International Airport, Bridgetown and will land in New Delhi on Thursday at 6:20 am IST.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked AI to submit a “factual report” on the incident, a senior official of the regulator said Commercial standard.

As per the DGCA rules issued in December 2017, a carrier can only operate a non-scheduled international flight if it does not in any way affect its scheduled flight operations.

“For the operation of charter flights by scheduled operators, there must be no disruption to their scheduled flights,” the rules state.

AI did not respond to the newspaper’s request for a statement on the matter.

The DGCA has not sent a formal notice to the airline but has asked it, via email, to explain the incident. The AI official said a response would be sent to the regulator soon.

The AI official said all passengers on the Newark-Delhi flight had been accommodated on other flights of the airline and its partner airlines.

“No passengers from the Newark-Delhi flight are stranded in the US due to this cancellation,” the official said.

The B777 aircraft operated its scheduled Delhi-Newark flight and landed at Newark airport at 8:45 a.m. (local time) on Tuesday.

However, the next leg, Newark-Delhi, was cancelled and the plane was sent to Argyle Airport in Kingstown to pick up the Indian cricket team.

The Indian team will be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi hours after returning home. There are also plans to hold a roadshow in Mumbai to pay tribute to the team that won an ICC title after 11 years.

(With contributions from agencies)

First published: 03 Jul 2024 | 6:45 PM IST