Air India cancelled six international flights on Tuesday, June 17, all operated by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, as global scrutiny intensifies over the aircraft model in the wake of last week’s devastating crash in Ahmedabad.
The cancelled flights include AI 915 (Delhi–Dubai), AI 153 (Delhi–Vienna), AI 143 (Delhi–Paris), AI 159 (Ahmedabad–London), AI 133 (Bengaluru–London), and AI 170 (London–Amritsar). The airline also confirmed a technical issue on flight AI 315 from Hong Kong to Delhi, which forced the aircraft to return mid-flight.
Earlier in the day, another Air India service — from San Francisco to Mumbai — experienced a technical snag during a scheduled stop in Kolkata, prompting a complete passenger deboarding. Additionally, Dreamliners operated by Lufthansa and British Airways en route to Hyderabad and Chennai, respectively, were forced to turn back to Frankfurt and London due to reported issues.
Air India attributed some of the cancellations to precautionary checks and operational limitations. These developments follow the June 12 crash of Air India flight AI 171, a Dreamliner service from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.
The aircraft crashed just seconds after takeoff, slamming into a college hostel barely 2 km from the airport. The crash resulted in 241 fatalities out of 242 people on board; the sole survivor was a British-Indian passenger seated in 11A. At least 33 people on the ground were also killed, making it one of the deadliest aviation disasters in Indian history.
The spate of technical issues and cancellations involving the Dreamliner — especially in such close proximity to the Ahmedabad tragedy — has sparked renewed concerns over the safety of Boeing’s wide-body jet. Regulatory authorities and airlines around the world are now under pressure to reassess the aircraft’s reliability.
