A large number of passengers were stranded at Mumbai and Dubai airports for over 15 hours as the Air India aircraft that was to operate flights AI983 (Mumbai-Dubai) and AI984 (Dubai-Mumbai) on Saturday night developed a technical snag prior to departure from Mumbai. Sources in the airline said that an alternate aircraft was not readily available and arranging one took a while, leading to the extended delay.
AI983, which was scheduled to depart Mumbai at 8:30 PM on Saturday finally took off at 1:30 PM on Sunday, while AI984, which was to take off from Dubai for Mumbai at 11:40 PM (UAE standard time), departed at 4:16 PM on Sunday, as per flight tracking data. The UAE Standard Time is one-and-a-half hours behind Indian Standard Time.
A number of angry passengers took to social media to express their disappointment and frustration because of the prolonged delay. Some alleged that the airline and its staff at the two airports were not giving them proper answers or updates regarding flight status.
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A senior Air India official said that the airline regretted the delay and the consequent inconvenience caused to its passengers, but it could not have operated the flights using an aircraft that was not fully fit to fly.
The flights were to be operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft, but shortly before the departure from Mumbai, the plane developed a technical fault, which could not be resolved and a replacement aircraft could not be arranged at a short notice. The flights were eventually operated after a delay of over 15 hours using an Airbus A321 aircraft.