Chennai, 16 December (H.S.) : Passengers at Chennai International Airport faced significant disruption on Tuesday (December 16) as several Air India flights heading to destinations like Dubai, Singapore, Mumbai, and Delhi were delayed by four to seven hours.

While Air India officially attributed the delays to administrative reasons, airport sources indicated the flights were held up due to the reported non-availability of pilots and aircraft engineers.

Flights Affected:Singapore Service: The Air India flight scheduled to depart at 5:30 am was delayed by approximately six hours, with a new expected departure time of 11:30 am. About 165 passengers were booked on this flight and were left waiting inside the terminal without boarding passes issued. Domestic Routes: The Air India flights scheduled for Mumbai (6:15 am) and Delhi (8:05 am) were also delayed by about four hours.

The situation has triggered concern among passengers, particularly as similar delays were recently affecting IndiGo Airlines due to a shortage of crew and engineers. Separately, an IndiGo Airlines flight to Dubai, scheduled to depart at 6:45 pm on Monday, finally took off nearly seven hours late around 1:30 am on Tuesday with 170 passengers on board.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary