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Last night, a significant number of passengers on an Air India flight destined for Sydney found themselves unexpectedly grounded at Canberra Airport. The plane had to be rerouted due to unfavorable weather conditions affecting Sydney.
Flight AI302, which departed from Delhi on February 26, was redirected to Canberra, as confirmed by an Air India representative to nine.com.au.
Upon arrival in Canberra around 8 p.m., passengers were unable to leave the aircraft.
According to the spokesperson, “During routine checks after landing, a technical issue was identified on the aircraft, necessitating additional time for repairs.”
“Air India sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused to passengers by this unforeseen and uncontrollable situation,” the spokesperson added.
The said efforts were made to minimise inconvenience caused by the unscheduled diversion to Canberra airport, which is not in Air India’s operating network.
“Refreshments and meals were served to them at the airport while arrangements were made to send them to Sydney by road from Canberra at the earliest,” they said.
“The elderly and women passengers with infants were prioritised in giving accommodation to the limited number of rooms available at the hotels.
“Passengers who made their own arrangements to proceed to Sydney were assured of reimbursement of the transportation charges.”
Some passengers claim they were “abandoned” at Canberra airport and that communication from Air India was “non-existent”.
Elloise, better known online as influencer @elloise_fit, claimed passengers were kept on the plane for more than five hours after the flight touched down in Canberra.
According to her Instagram posts, passengers were told at around 12.30am that they would be transported to Sydney in taxis.
“The communication from Air India was non-existent and there were 250+ displaced people waiting for cabs at 1am that may or may not have even showed up,” she wrote on social media.
“We decided to book a hotel room in Canberra and hire a car to drive home tomorrow.”
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