A plane load of Air India passengers was turned around mid-flight between Delhi and Vancouver on Thursday, after the wrong aircraft was deployed for the 15-hour trip to Canada. The issue: Air India has clearance to operate the Boeing 777-300ER variant on this route. For this trip on Thursday, March 19, the Star Alliance carrier had opted to fly the 777-200LR.

This resulted in a near nine-hour flight to nowhere, after the aircraft was forced to turn around above the skies of China, to make the trip back to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). Once back in the Indian capital, and burning more than nine hours of fuel to nowhere, passengers and crew were disembarked, while alternative arrangements were made, including hotel accommodation, and a suitable aircraft to operate the appropriate flight.

Nine Hours: A Costly Mistake For Air India

Credit: Flickr

According to The Times of India, Air India flight 185 had departed for its daily non-stop service to Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Following airspace closures around the Middle East due to the ongoing Iran conflict, the aircraft was operating the service using the easterly route, which saw it track across China.

Five hours into the 15-hour non-stop journey, the realization was made that the aircraft did not have the appropriate clearance to arrive in Canada. Ultimately, the decision was made to divert the aircraft back to Delhi, for the airline to make the required change for a suitable aircraft with clearance. This will ultimately be a costly mistake for the airline, given that it would have burned around nine hours of fuel without arriving at its intended destination. The airline shared the following statement following the flight:

Wrong Aircraft Deployed On AI185

Credit: Flightradar24

Using data from Flightradar24, it identifies that the airline had departed from Delhi at 12:18 pm, almost 93 minutes behind its scheduled departure time of 10:55 am. The service, which operates daily between Delhi and the largest city in Canada’s western provinces, had operated for around five hours before the realisation was made that they were flying an aircraft that did not have appropriate clearance.

For the plane-load of passengers, they were unlikely to be none the wiser that the aircraft they had been booked on did not have suitable clearance to operate to Canada. While flying over Chinese airspace, near the city of Kunming, the mistake was realised, and the plane was forced to make a U-turn and return to Delhi.

The Boeing 777-200LR that was operating the flight, VT-AEI, touched back down in New Delhi around 9:49 pm local time, where all travelers and crew onboard disembarked while the airline cleaned up this costly mistake.

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VT-AEI: The Wrong Aircraft To Fly To Vancouver

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Identified as VT-AEI, the aircraft that was inappropriately deployed on the long-haul service to Canada, returned to Delhi without issue and has since flown on other long-haul routes to Frankfurt. The aircraft first entered the Air India fleet in 2023, after a 14-year tenure with the United States carrier Delta Air Lines (N708DN).

Air India has three 777-200LRs in its fleet, which are all leased and set to be returned in March this year. They are configured with 288 seats onboard across three classes (28 business, 48 premium economy, and 212 in economy). This specific aircraft has been in operation for 16.8 years. Further details below as per ch-aviation:

Airlines are usually granted specific authorization for aircraft types to fly international routes. As highlighted by this incident, the 777-200LR was not authorized for Air India to fly to Canada, and these restrictions are in place due to regulatory approvals, specific maintenance requirements, or bilateral agreements.