Air India Hurricane Flight For Cricket Team Trophy Sets Record & Gets Airline In Hot Water

While Air India had brought back the Indian national cricket team from Barbados, it did so at the expense of passengers who had booked a flight ticket from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), whose flight Air India canceled on July 2.

Bringing home the champions

The India national cricket team had just won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup on June 29, defeating South Africa and claiming its second-ever World Cup at the tournament. The two national teams played the final in Bridgetown, Barbados. However, Hurricane Beryl, which formed on June 28, has resulted in the Indian national cricket team being stranded in Barbados for a few days.

According to the United States National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic basin on record, and only the second Category 5 hurricane to occur in July after Hurricane Emily in 2005.

Nevertheless, the Indian cricketers were finally able to depart Bridgetown Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) on July 3. The team chartered an Air India Boeing 777-200LR, registered as VT-AEE, which arrived at BGI on July 3, leaving the airport on the same day a few hours later. The Triple Seven arrived at DEL at 6:05 local time (UTC +5:30) on July 4 after flying for more than 15 hours from BGI.

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Chartering AIC24WC

The airline operated the flight under the special flight code AIC24WC, deciphered as ‘Air India Champions 24 World Cup.’ The same flight was supposed to bring back the Indian national cricket team much earlier, yet Hurricane Beryl prevented the airline from doing so. However, the Boeing 777-200LR that operated the chartered flight on July 3 was scheduled to fly the regularly scheduled Air India flight AI106 between EWR and DEL. Instead, the flight was canceled, according to Flightradar24. On July 2, the twin-aisle aircraft had operated flight AI105 from DEL to EWR and, subsequently, flew to BGI to pick up the Indian cricketers.

Photo: yanchi1984 | Shutterstock

As a result, the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has begun investigating the case, and a senior DGCA official confirmed this to the India-based outlet Press Trust of India (PTI). While an Air India representative told PTI that the airline informed the travelers who were scheduled to fly AI106 on July 3 beforehand, the DGCA has still been looking for an explanation of the events. On July 3, Air India flight AI102 departed New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for DEL, landing at the Indian city at 6:16 local time on July 4.

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Air India’s network in the US

Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that Air India operates flights to the US from three Indian airports: DEL, Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM), and Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR). In total, the airline has 50 weekly departures from India to the US in July.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

This amounts to 15,358 weekly seats and 190 million weekly available seat kilometers (ASK), with the airline serving six airports in the US: EWR, Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), JFK, Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

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