Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a response from Air India on reports that an aircraft that was to operate a scheduled flight was deployed for flying out the Indian cricket team from Barbados, leaving passengers in the lurch.
To ferry the Indian cricket team home, Air India reportedly deployed an aircraft to Barbados that was originally scheduled to operate a scheduled flight from Newark to Delhi.
Against this backdrop, a senior official on Wednesday said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has called for a report from Air India.
The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team reached Delhi on Thursday morning after taking off from Barbados's Grantley Adams International Airport in a chartered flight which had a special call sign - AIC24WC - Air India Champions 24 World Cup.
Indian cricket team's arrival was deferred following a weather delay due to a powerful hurricane Beryl. The chartered flight was arranged by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to bring the Indian cricket team back.
An Air India official, cited in a news agency PTI report, said passengers were not inconvenienced by the deployment of the Boeing 777 aircraft to Barbados.
Most of the passengers who had booked tickets for the Newark to Delhi flight on July 2 were informed in advance, the official was quoted as saying.
The official said, however, some passengers who could not be informed about the flight cancellation turned up at the airport and they were taken by road to New York, adding that those passengers were accommodated in the flight from New York to Delhi.
