NEW DELHI: The New Year vacation at Bali in Indonesia ended on an unsettling note for 182 passengers on Thursday after their Air India return flight to India was cancelled, forcing them to postpone their journey by a day.
The incoming flight supposed to arrive at Gusti Ngurah Rai International flight in Bali, was diverted elsewhere due to poor weather there, as well as the end of duty hours for the cockpit crew forced the airline to cancel the flight.
The journey to Delhi will now happen on Friday (January 9) after a 24-hour-plus delay. The journey time between the two cities is only seven hours and 30 minutes.
Videos released online by a passenger, supposed to travel by the cancelled Airbus A321 flight, AI 2146, showed angry scenes at Bali airport (also known as Denpasar airport) with passengers crowding around staff seeking answers for the delay.
The Airbus A321 aircraft was supposed to take off at 10 am on January 8 from Bali airport and was expected to reach India in 7 hrs and 30 minutes. According to a source familiar with the development, “The incoming flight from Delhi to Bali was diverted to the airport of another City in Indonesia. So, an announcement was made that the flight from Bali would take off at 2.45 pm (a delay of 285 minutes) on January 8. However, the flight was further delayed by the time it reached the airport. Meanwhile, the duty hours of the operating crew came to a close.”
Air India confirmed the incident. In a statement, the airline said, “Flight AI2145 operating from Delhi to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on 8 January, was diverted to Juanda in Indonesia due to unfavourable weather conditions in Denpasar. With weather conditions improving, the flight departed for and landed at Denpasar later. Meanwhile, due to the consequential effect of the diversion, the operating crew came under the mandatory Flight Duty Time Limitations norms restricting them from operating the return flight to Delhi immediately. This resulted in the cancellation of AI2146 from Denpasar to Bali today.”
The airline added, “The flight will now operate from Denpasar to Delhi tomorrow (Friday) morning. Inconvenience caused to our passengers due to this unforeseen situation beyond our control is sincerely regretted.”
Hotel accommodation was provided. Full refunds on cancellation and complimentary rescheduling have also been offered to the passengers as opted by them, the statement said. The ground staff of Air India at Denpasar offered all required support to passengers, it added.
