NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind's flight from Switzerland to Slovenia was delayed for about three hours on Sunday after his Air India One faced a technical glitch at the Zurich airport.
The President drove to the airport but was asked to return to his hotel after a 'Rudder Fault' was detected in the aircraft.
During this time, an Air India Boeing 777 that was to operate on London-Mumbai sector, was kept on standby at Heathrow as an alternate aircraft to be flown to Zurich for the President's journey if need be, sources in the airline said.
Albeit, the Air India One was rectified by AI engineers, and it flew Kovind to Slovenia following a delay of three hours. The President arrived in Slovenia on Sunday on the third leg of his three-nation tour to Europe.
Earlier, Pakistan had refused India's request to allow Kovind to use its airspace for his flight to Iceland.