Rat holds up Air India flight to Riyadh

October 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Air India will deploy the wide-bodied Boeing aircraft B777 on all its seven west-bound destinations as well as Tokyo from Oct 25, the national carrier said Saturday. "With more than half of our fleet now comprising of the new aircraft, it has given us an opportunity to rework our winter schedule in such a manner as to provide passengers with a product that matches the best in the industry, both on international and domestic sectors," the airline said in a statement.

October 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Air India has announced the launch of a daily Washington-New York-Delhi-Kolkata flight from Dec 1 putting the US capital on its map. The daily flight would have stops in New York and New Delhi before flying on to Kolkata, saving several hours for passengers travelling from Washington.

October 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Air India Monday said the cockpit of its Sharjah-Lucknow-Delhi flight IC-884 was not left unmanned during a mid-air scuffle that broke out between the pilots and cabin crew Saturday. "The committee constituted by the Air India management to inquire into the incident has concluded decisively that the cockpit was not left unmanned at any point of time during the flight phase," the airline said in a statement.

September 26th, 2009 AMRITSAR - Rat! It's that creature again that held up a London-bound Air India flight by nearly 11 hours from the Rajasansi airport here Saturday. Flight AI-187, which was scheduled to depart at 6.30 a.m.

September 25th, 2009 AMRITSAR - A rat delayed a London-bound Air India flight from the Rajasansi airport here Saturday morning. Flight AI-187, which was scheduled to depart at 6.30 a.m.

September 19th, 2009 KOLKATA - A Port Blair bound Air India flight Saturday took off from here, leaving behind 25 passengers with confirmed tickets as the airbus did not have the capacity to provide required seats to them. "The incident took place today (Saturday) morning when IC 287 had to take off without 25 passengers.

September 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - An Air India plane caught fire just in the verge of taking off from Mumbai Airport. A probe has been ordered after 229 passengers and crew of a Riyadh-bound Air India flight had a narrow escape here Friday as they had to be hastily evacuated after one of the aircraft's engines caught fire while proceeding for take-off.

September 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - Over 215 passengers and crew of a Riyadh-bound Air India flight had a narrow escape here Friday morning when they were evacuated quickly after one of the aircraft's engines caught fire while proceeding for take-off. The ground staff noticed the fire and smoke from the engine around 10:30 a.m.

September 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - Nearly 215 passengers and crew of a Riyadh-bound Air India flight had a narrow escape here Friday morning when they were evacuated quickly after one of the plane's engines caught fire while proceeding for take-off. The fire was noticed by the ground staff while the aircraft had begun to taxi toward the runway and was immediately doused, Air India spokesperson Jitendra Bhargava said.

August 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Jet Airways will launch a New Delhi-Hong Kong daily service from Sep 30, a top airline official announced here Monday. "The return Hong Kong-New Delhi flight would be launched Oct 1 to mark China's national day," said Jet chief executive Wolfgang Prock-Schauer.

August 13th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Private carrier Jet Airways will launch a daily flight on the Hyderabad-Dubai sector from Aug 16, a senior official said here Thursday. The new flight using Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be Jet Airways' first international service from Hyderabad and its second daily service to Dubai from South India.

July 29th, 2009 MUMBAI - Private carrier Jet Airways will launch flight from Mumbai to Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh from Aug 6, the airline said Wednesday. The airline will launch four services a week on the Mumbai-Riyadh sector - on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, Jet said in a statement.

July 21st, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Private carrier Jet Airways will launch daily services on the Kochi-Sharjah route from Sep 1, the airline said Tuesday. This will be Jet's fourth daily flight to the Gulf from Kochi, the airline said in a statement.

May 9th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Air India is set to launch a daily direct flight from here to Frankfurt from June 1, the airline said Saturday. Flight AI-120 Ahmedabad-Frankfurt, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft with a passenger capacity of 291, will depart the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 2.05 a.m.

January 23rd, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The first Air India Express flight from Thiruvanathapuram to Kuwait took off from the airport here Saturday evening. The Air India Express carrying 132 passengers including 62 from here took off from Thiruvanathapuram International Airport at 8.15.