Over 200 passengers stranded in Italy amid Diwali as Air India Milan-Delhi flight canceled

Over 200 passengers remained stranded in Italy as Air India’s Dreamliner aircraft faced a technical problem at the Milan airport on Friday, forcing the airline to cancel its flight to Delhi. The airline said that flight AI138 from Milan to Delhi on October 17 was canceled due to an extensive technical requirement on the aircraft scheduled to operate the flight. Air India has confirmed that alternative arrangements are being made to fly the affected passengers. Based on seat availability on Air India and other airlines, passengers have been rebooked on alternate flights on or after October 20, the airline said. “All affected passengers have been provided with hotel accommodation, but due to limited availability, accommodation outside the immediate vicinity of the airport has been arranged.” The airline regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers and said it would continue to provide all necessary ground assistance, including meals, to all affected passengers. Similar cancellations The latest incident follows similar cancellations earlier in the year. On August 3, two Air India services were grounded for comparable reasons: • Flight AI349 (Singapore to Chennai) was canceled due to a maintenance requirement identified prior to departure that required additional rectification time. • Flight AI500 (Bhubaneswar to Delhi) was canceled due to a technical problem causing high cabin temperature on the ground before take-off. Air India flight from Delhi delayed Air India’s scheduled evening flight from Delhi to Dhaka suffered significant delays on Saturday after a massive fire broke out at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the Bangladeshi capital, forcing authorities to suspend all flight operations. The disruption began on Saturday afternoon when a catastrophic blaze broke out at the airport’s sprawling cargo complex and billowed thick, black smoke across the airfield. Due to the proximity and intensity of the fire – believed to have been fueled by highly flammable goods including chemicals, materials and machinery stored in the cargo bay – airport authorities took the immediate decision to close the facility to all inbound and outbound air traffic. Air India confirmed that its evening service, flight AI237 (Delhi-Dhaka), was grounded due to the closure of the destination airport. The airline also noted that the subsequent return flight, AI238 (Dhaka-Delhi), would face a corresponding delayed departure. “Due to the closure of Dhaka airport for all flight operations, flight AI237 scheduled from Delhi to Dhaka on October 18 has been delayed.