Air India’s Mumbai-London flight delayed by 7 hours due to technical glitch; passengers stranded
Many travellers took to social media to complain about the prolonged delay and the lack of clear communication from airline staff
PTC Web Desk: An Air India flight from Mumbai to London was delayed by nearly seven hours on Saturday following a technical glitch, leaving passengers stranded and frustrated at the airport.
The flight, AI129, was originally scheduled to depart from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 6.30 am, but the departure was later rescheduled to 1 pm.
Passengers said boarding began around 6 am, about 40 minutes later than the planned 5.20 am schedule. After boarding, travellers reportedly remained seated inside the aircraft for about one and a half hours before being informed of a technical issue. They were then asked to deboard around 8.15 am, and their hand baggage was rechecked. Initially, the flight was rescheduled for noon, but the departure was again postponed to 1 pm, further adding to passengers’ frustration.
Many travellers took to social media to complain about the prolonged delay and the lack of clear communication from airline staff.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed that the delay was due to technical reasons and assured that refreshments were provided to all affected passengers.
“Air India flight AI129, scheduled to depart from Mumbai to London at 6:30 am, was delayed due to technical difficulties. The revised departure time is 1 pm. Passengers have been served refreshments,” the airline said in a statement.
This incident comes a day after flight operations at the Mumbai airport were briefly affected due to an air traffic control (ATC) glitch at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, which disrupted over 800 flights across several cities, including Jaipur, Lucknow, and Mumbai. Operations gradually returned to normal by Saturday.