Team India back home, DGCA seeks report from Air India over chartered flight sent to Barbados

A controversy has erupted over the special Air India flight that brought home the T20 World Cup-winning Team India from Barbados. A few passengers of the original flight have claimed that no substitute flight was provided in place of the cancelled flight.  

Air India cancelled a Delhi-bound New York flight on Tuesday, July 2, which was diverted to pick up the Rohit Sharma-led T20 Indian Cricket team from Barbados.

A few passengers took to social media and said that Air India’s claims of providing alternate flight was false. “Air India is lying. I am one of the affected passengers and i was not offered any alternative to travel on partner airlines,” wrote Ankur Verma. 

Another Air India passenger Ajay Awtaney complained about a last-minute flight cancellation posting a screenshot of his cancelled Delhi-bound flight ticket from New York on X (formally Twitter). 

Against this backdrop, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has called for a report from Air India, officials said. According to reports, Air India deployed the aircraft to Barbados, which was originally scheduled to operate a scheduled flight from Newark to Delhi, causing difficulties for passengers. 

The DGCA rules issued in 2017 state that to be able to operate a non-scheduled international flight, an airline cannot take away from scheduled operations. This implies the airline should have a spare aircraft to be able to operate the charter. “For operation of charter flights by scheduled operators, there shall be no disruption to their scheduled flights,” as per the rules.  

An Air India official had 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. 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. Those passengers were accommodated in the flight from New York to Delhi, the official added. 

“Air India managed to send a flight on a charter basis in close coordination with the BCCI officials to bring the players home. Fortunately, this aircraft could be made available after accommodating the passengers due to fly from Newark to Delhi in another Air India flight,” PTI reported. 

The Indian cricket team was stranded in Barbados after a Category 4 hurricane hit the Caribbean islands at Bridgetown, Barbados in the wee hours of July 1, delaying its departure back home by at least another day.  

Team India back home

The special charter flight having specific call sign AIC24WC – Air India Champions 24 World Cup -- took off around 4:50 am local time and landed in New Delhi on Thursday at around 7:00 am (IST). 

The BCCI shared a video of the players taking the trophy off of the chartered plane. A big group of fans welcomed the team at the airport.

Captain Rohit Sharma headed out of the airport with the trophy in his hand. Virat Kohli received a rousing reception and the star player waved to the fans, acknowledging their support.

After a long journey of around 18 hours, the team has finally landed in India as fans have been waiting in long queues since late night to see their favourite stars. Special arrangements have been made for the team’s welcome both at the airport and the team hotel.

Following a special meet up with the PM, team will fly to Mumbai for a special road show for the fans starting from Nariman point to the Wankhede Stadium where the entire team will be honoured.