CHENNAI: More than 250 New Delhi-bound passengers from Chennai were stranded for nearly nine hours after the AI043 aircraft was grounded after developing technical glitches.
The ordeal for passengers, some of them bound for international destinations, started when their flight, scheduled to depart at 9.10 pm on Wednesday, could not be refuelled.
"We tried till 1 pm to rectify the trouble. But after that the officials gave up and the flight was grounded," said an Air India spokesperson.
After the flight got grounded, Air India officials made alternative arrangements for the passengers. A total of 150 passengers were provided with alternative flights to Delhi in the morning. "The were booked on flight AI440, which departed at 6 am and by AI443 which departed at 8.56 am," said the spokesperson.
For the remaining passengers, hotel accommodation was provided while some who volunteered to go back home were offered taxi fares.
The flight is marketed as Codeshare flight with Ethiopian Airlines 1763, Turkish Airlines 8477 and Air Canada 6429. The international passengers have been rebooked for Thursday's flight, said Air India spokesperson.