Air India flight fails to land in Andaman for 2nd consecutive day, passengers protest

CHENNAI: An Air India Express flight from Chennai to Andaman was forced to return to Chennai without landing on Wednesday for the second consecutive day due to adverse weather conditions, sparking frustration and protests among passengers.

The flight, carrying 165 passengers, took off from Chennai at 7.20 am and entered Andaman airspace at approximately 9.40 am.

However, due to bad weather, the aircraft was unable to land at Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair.

After circling the airspace for a while, the flight returned to Chennai and landed at 12.30 pm.

Upon return, tensions flared at Chennai Airport as disgruntled passengers confronted Air India Express officials.

Passengers questioned why only their flight was unable to land while flights operated by other airlines managed to do so without incident.

“Why is it that only Air India Express is unable to land in Andaman due to weather, while other airlines continue operations as usual?” asked one frustrated passenger during a heated conversation.

Airport sources confirmed that three IndiGo flights and one Akasa Air flight successfully completed their scheduled operations from Chennai to Andaman on Wednesday.

Following the altercation, Air India Express officials reportedly calmed the passengers and reboarded all 165 travellers onto the same aircraft.

The flight departed Chennai once again at around 2.30 pm, making a second attempt to reach Andaman.

This incident comes a day after a similar disruption.

On Tuesday, an Air India Express flight with 168 passengers was also unable to land in Andaman during two separate attempts.

The repeated failure led to a sit-in protest by passengers at the airline’s counter in Chennai airport.

A special flight was eventually arranged on early hours Wednesday to ferry those passengers to their destination.