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Air India flights to London Heathrow, Birmingham diverted due to bad weather
One of the diverted Air India flights were headed to London's Heathrow airport and another to Birmingham.
Two Air India flights from India headed to separate destinations in the UK were diverted on Friday due to bad weather. One of them was headed to London's Heathrow airport and another to Birmingham.
An Air India spokesperson said that Flight AI131, travelling from Mumbai to London Heathrow, was rerouted to London Gatwick on January 9 after poor weather conditions disrupted operations at Heathrow.
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“The aircraft, initially, had to hold over London Heathrow due to the continuing inclement weather and diverted to Gatwick finally with the pilot requesting for priority landing adhering to standard operating procedures. The aircraft had landed safely at Gatwick and all passengers were extended assistance,” the spokesperson said.
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In another instance, Flight AI117 from Amritsar to Birmingham was also unable to land at its scheduled destination because of adverse weather. “The crew diverted the flight and landed at London seeking permission for priority landing as per procedure,” the spokesperson added.
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More details are awaited.
In a similar incident last week, an Air India Express flight was forced to return to Delhi after making repeated but unsuccessful attempts to land at Lucknow airport, officials confirmed.
Airport authorities said flight IX-2171, scheduled to arrive from Delhi at around 6:30 am, tried to land as many as 17 times but was unable to do so because of severely reduced visibility. With visibility dropping below the minimum levels required for safe operations, Air Traffic Control did not grant landing permission.
As a result of the prolonged delay and the eventual diversion back to Delhi, Air India Express also had to cancel its onward Lucknow to Riyadh service, flight IX-189.
