CHENNAI: Passengers at Chennai International Airport faced severe inconvenience on Tuesday (December 16) as several Air India flights to Dubai, Singapore, Mumbai and Delhi were delayed by four to seven hours. Though the delays were officially attributed to administrative reasons, sources said the flights were held up due to the non-availability of pilots and aircraft engineers.
Flights affected include the Air India service to Singapore scheduled to depart at 5.30 am, which has been delayed by about six hours and is now expected to take off at 11.30 am. About 165 passengers are booked on the flight. While passengers have been informed about the delay, boarding passes have not yet been issued, forcing them to wait inside the terminal.
Similarly, the Air India flight to Mumbai scheduled for 6.15 am and the Air India flight to Delhi scheduled for 8.05 am have also been announced as delayed by around four hours.
Earlier, an IndiGo Airlines flight to Dubai, scheduled to depart Chennai at 6.45 pm on Monday, finally took off around 1.30 am on Tuesday, nearly seven hours late, with 170 passengers on board.
IndiGo has already been facing widespread disruptions due to a shortage of pilots and aircraft engineers, though the situation has been gradually improving. However, similar delays now affecting Air India flights due to the reported non-availability of crew and engineers have triggered concern and unrest among passengers at Chennai airport, officials said.