CHENNAI: Over 500 Air India passengers at Chennai International Airport experienced distress on Tuesday after three separate flights bound for Delhi, Mumbai, and Singapore were grounded for several hours due to technical failures.
A domestic Air India flight scheduled to depart from Chennai to Delhi at 11.20 am was halted after pilots detected an engine malfunction. The aircraft, which had arrived from Delhi earlier at 10.34 am, was preparing for its return journey with 172 passengers on board. As engineers were not able to complete the repair work, passengers were deplaned and shifted to airport lounges.
In a cascading effect, an Air India flight scheduled to leave from Chennai to Mumbai at 11.40 am with 167 passengers was delayed by over six hours. The delay occurred because the aircraft assigned to this route was the same one slated to arrive from Singapore. However, the Singapore-Chennai flight arrived in Chennai at 5.30 pm due to an engine snag.
The Singapore-Chennai Air India flight, carrying 184 passengers, encountered a mechanical issue before departure from Singapore, resulting in at least a six-hour delay.
With three flights affected simultaneously, frustrated passengers crowded the airport terminals, seeking updates on rescheduling and compensation. Airport authorities and Air India staff arranged temporary accommodations in lounges and provided refreshments. However, many travellers expressed anger over the lack of timely communication.