Air India scheduled flight cancelled for Indian cricket team, aviation body seeks report

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a report from Air India on allegations that a plane, scheduled to operate from Newark to Delhi, was diverted to Barbados to bring the Indian cricket team back to India, PTI reported.

The decision reportedly caused inconvenience to passengers who had booked a scheduled flight. Some passengers claimed on social media that no replacement flight had been offered.

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On July 2, Air India cancelled the Delhi-bound flight from New York and deployed the aircraft to pick up the Rohit Sharma-led T20 World Cup winning team from Barbados.

A senior official said on Wednesday that the DGCA has sought a detailed report from Air India regarding the incident.

“Air India managed to send a chartered flight in close coordination with BCCI officials to bring the players home. Fortunately, this aircraft could be made available after accommodating the passengers who were scheduled to fly from Newark to Delhi on another Air India flight,” PTI reported, citing sources.

The DGCA rules issued in 2017 require airlines operating non-scheduled international flights not to disrupt scheduled operations, which implies the need for reserve aircraft for charters.

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

The special charter flight, whose call sign was AIC24WC – Air India Champions 24 World Cup, took off at around 4:50 am (local time) from Barbados and landed in New Delhi at 7 am on Thursday.

An Air India official said most of the passengers were informed in advance about the flight cancellation and were either put on another flight or flown by road to New York. The passengers were then put on a flight from New York to Delhi.

The cricket team’s departure was delayed due to Hurricane Beryl, requiring a chartered flight to be arranged by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).