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Air India sends ferry to Russia to pick up stranded US bound passengers

Posted to Maritime Reporter on July 23, 2024

Air India announced on Friday that a plane containing food and other necessities was heading to Russia to pick up passengers who were stranded there after an earlier flight bound for San Francisco made an emergency landing.

Air India's aircraft flying from Delhi to a city on the West Coast made an emergency landing after the crew discovered a possible issue in the cargo area. This was the second incident of this kind in less than a year.

Air India issued a statement saying that a team of crew and security personnel were aboard the ferry flight. It also said it had established a hotline to help passengers reach out.

Air India, a carrier that has a significant advantage in terms of cost and time on flights to the United States, uses this route.

The Indian embassy said on the social media platform X, that a team consisting of three senior officials as well as an interpreter had arrived at Krasnoyarsk Airport to help passengers.

In a press release, the airline stated that the Boeing 777, which was carrying 225 passengers, 19 crew members, and landed safely at the Krasnoyarsk Airport International in Siberia, Russia.

According to posts on social media, the airport stated that the crew of the flight had been relocated to hotels and the passengers were at the international departure area. This angered many who were stranded.

Mayank Gupta's mother was flying on this flight. He wrote in X that he was "angry and sad" about her medications and luggage remaining on the plane.

On X, a passenger posted a picture of some passengers sleeping in the airport area.

Airport officials said that the smoke detector activated during landing caused the plane to land.

Rosaviatsiya said that the aircraft had landed and taxied into a parking space. There were no signs of fire or smoke aboard.

Boeing and the spokesperson of the U.S. State Department referred questions about the incident to Air India.

In retaliation to Western sanctions regarding the Ukraine War, Russia has banned many foreign airlines from its airspace. Many countries and airlines have also prohibited their planes from flying over Russia or any part of it.

Bans on certain airlines have forced them to redraw their routes, and disrupted their business models. They now have to fly around India - the largest country in the world. United Airlines canceled many of its nonstop U.S. to India flights because of the issue.

Air India Boeing aircraft on the same route in June 2023 was stranded a day due to a technical problem. Air India sent a plane a day after the first to pick up stranded passengers. (Reporting from Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and Kanjyik in Ghosh, Lisa Barrington in Seoul and Ron Popeski, Aditya Kalra, and Adita Shah; Editing done by Franklin Paul, Lincoln Feast, Jamie Freed, and Miral Fahmy.

Tags: Asia Europe Middle East North America North Asia

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