Cliff Notes
- Air India reduces flights after fatal accident: They have suspended select long-haul flights and reduced frequencies following a fatal crash involving a Boeing 787 8 aircraft, which killed 241 people on board and around 30 on the ground.
- Changes incoming: The airline is implementing enhanced safety checks and flight schedule adjustments due to airspace closures in the Middle East, with some suspensions lasting until mid-July.
- Waiting on data from the crash: India’s aviation regulator has issued warnings to Air India for safety rule violations, while the government evaluates where to analyse the flight data recorders from the crash.
Air India reduces flights after fatal accident
Air India has confirmed it is suspending some of its long-haul flights from Saturday, including routes using the same type of Boeing aircraft which crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad.
The decision follows last Thursday’s fatal crash involving a Boeing 787-8 flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick.
All but one of the 242 people on board were killed, with around 30 fatalities on the ground, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that the sole survivor, a British national, had left the hospital.
Most temporary reductions will last until at least mid-July, affecting both 787 and 777 aircraft types, and include routes to Gatwick.
The firm said in a statement it was cutting international services because of “enhanced pre-flight safety checks” and to accommodate “additional flight durations arising from airspace closures in the Middle East”.
Routes between Delhi-Nairobi, Amritsar-Gatwick and Goa-Gatwick are being suspended entirely.
Sources
Air India suspends some long-haul flights after fatal crash and reduces the frequency of others – Sky News
Air India Halts 3 International Flights, Cuts Frequencies On 16 Others Until Mid-July Amid Checks, Restrictions – ABP Live English