Air India announced that the flight, now re-badged as AI 1179, arrived safely in San Francisco, adding that the passengers and crew disembarked and were taken to the terminal building for further processes.
Air India Saturday announced a full refund of fares and vouchers for affected passengers aboard a Delhi-San Francisco flight which faced a 30-hour delay after it was forced to make an emergency landing in Russia due to a technical glitch.
The flight finally landed in San Francisco after a 30-hour delay following which Air India announced that fares paid by passengers will be fully refunded and the airline will also “incrementally” provide the travellers a voucher for future travel.
An Air India flight, originally badged as AI-183, landed safely at the San Francisco airport on Saturday, nearly 30 hours after it departed from the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi but was forced to make a diversion to Krasnoyarsk International Airport in Russia due to a technical reas0n on July 18.
In its final update on Saturday, Air India announced that the flight, now re-badged as AI 1179, arrived safely in San Francisco, adding that the passengers and crew disembarked and were taken to the terminal building for further processes.
In a statement, Air India said that since did not have its staff at KJA, third-party support was engaged to provide all necessary assistance to passengers.
Apologising for the prolonged delay and inconvenience caused to its passengers, Air India said the decision to land in Russia was taken as a precautionary measure.
“Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience that you have undergone enroute your journey to San Francisco. We completely understand that the past 24 hours were difficult and thank you for your patience during this period. Your safety was our prime consideration throughout and governed our pilots’ decision to make a precautionary landing at Krasnoyarsk International Airport [KJA], Russia,” the airline said in a statement.
Air India asserted that their priority was to ensure the safety of its passengers make sure they arrived safely in San Francisco at the earliest. “For this, a relief flight was dispatched in collaboration with the relevant authorities.”
The airline announced that it will refund the fare for the affected passengers and also provide them with a voucher for future travel with Air India.
“While we cannot obliterate the experience that you have undergone, as a gesture to convey our sincere regrets, we will fully refund the fare for your journey and will incrementally provide you a voucher for future travel on Air India,” it said.
(With inputs from agencies)