AN AIR India flight scheduled for the same route as the plane that crashed last week has been cancelled.
Flight AI 159 was planned to depart Ahmedabad, India, at 1.10pm local time on Tuesday, and arrive at Gatwick airport at 6.25pm BST.
GettyAn Air India flight from Ahmadabad to London has been cancelled over a ‘technical glitch’[/caption]
GettyIt comes just four days after Air India Flight AI171 crashed into a doctors’ hostel in Ahmedabad[/caption]
Air India’s website shows the flight was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but has since been cancelled.
A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, set to depart at 8pm BST was also axed, as well as Paris-bound flight AI143 from Delhi.
The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad on June 12.
An Air India spokesperson said: “Flight AI 159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick has been cancelled today due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft, and not due to any technical snag as claimed.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers and have made alternative arrangements to fly them to their destination.”
The airline said affected passengers are being offered hotel accommodation and full refunds or rescheduling.
It comes just days after an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off in what was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed.
The aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British.
The sole surviving passenger was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
Police are now hunting through the rubble and wreckage for any survivors.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner’s final signal was received just seconds after take-off.
This was last logged at 1:38pm local time – less than a minute after it started the journey.
It had only reached 625ft at the time, officials believe.
In a statement the airline said: “Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick was involved in an accident on 12 June 2025.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest opportunity.”
Theories of what may have caused the deadly crash have been circulating, but none confirmed.
Captain Saurabh Bhatnagar, a former senior pilot, said that footage of the doomed plane’s descent “looked like a case of multiple bird hits wherein both the engines have lost power”.
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