NEW DELHI: A Qatar Airways flight on way to Hongkong from Doha was diverted to Ahmedabad airport after it developed a technical issue when airborne. A full scale emergency was declared at the Sardar Vallabhai patel International Airport late afternoon as a precautionary measure.
Fight QR816 took off from Doha at 9.01 am (local time), states flight tracking platform, FlightAware. Following a technical glitch midway, permission was sought from the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad to land there.
In a statement, the spokesperson of Ahmedabad airport said, “Due to a technical issue on an aircraft enroute from Doha to Hongkong, full emergency was declared at Ahmedabad airport at 2.12 pm to enable the aircraft to land. It landed safely at 2.32 pm and the full emergency was withdrawn at 2.38 pm. Airport operations remained unaffected."
Qatar Airways in a statement said, “Flight QR816 from Doha to Hong Kong was diverted to Ahmedabad on 14 October due to a technical issue. The diversion was a standard precautionary measure and the aircraft landed safely.”
It added that passengers and crew were provided the necessary assistance.