An Air India flight on Monday afternoon brought 316 Indian passengers who had been stranded at Cairo airport to the Mumbai international airport. AI officials said another flight with over 200 passengers onboard was expected to arrive from strife-torn Egypt in the early hours of Tuesday.
AI 160, a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet, was dispatched to Cairo on Sunday to bring back hundreds of Indian passengers stranded in Egypt. The flight arrived at 2.19 pm on Monday in Mumbai with 316 passengers onboard. It had actually been expected much earlier, at 6.30 am.
Air India has also sent its Mumbai-Jeddah flight further, to Cairo on Monday, to pick up more Indians stuck in the Egyptian capital that has been rocked by violent protests for a week now.
“The Airbus 330 will be bringing back more Indians from Cairo. The flight is expected to arrive in Mumbai some time after midnight,” said an Air India spokesperson.
According to the AI official, the flight may be delayed because of the volatile condition in Egypt. “The number of Indians who will be on the flight to India will depend on how many are able to contact the Indian embassy and reach the airport, as a curfew is in place there. We will try to bring back as many passengers as possible,” he said.
Crewmember Rajneesh Dhawan, who flew in the AI 160 flight with the 316 passengers, said, “Another flight has already left for Cairo to bring back more Indians.”
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AI asked to ensure reasonable fares
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
Jan. 31: top civil aviation ministry sources said Air India has been asked to ensure that fares charged are reasonable and that the airline should take a “re-look” at the fare structure in case passengers found it steep.
an Air India official did not comment on the actual fare being charged.