Air India to operate Milan flight on Sunday to bring back stranded passengers

New Delhi | Air India will operate a special flight from Milan to Delhi on Sunday to bring back passengers stranded in the Italian city after the airline had cancelled their flight on Friday following a technical issue with the Dreamliner aircraft.

More than 250 passengers were stranded at Milan after the flight cancellation on Friday. There were posts on social media complaining about the lack of adequate facilities for the passengers.

The airline on Sunday said it will operate a flight from Milan to Delhi today to accommodate passengers of flight AI138, which was cancelled on October 17 due to a technical issue.

"To ensure that the affected passengers can return home to India in time for the festive occasion, our teams expedited the rectification process on the aircraft at Milan and secured the necessary approvals to operate an additional commercial flight, AI138D, departing Milan at 1900 hours local time and arriving in Delhi on the morning of 20 October," Air India said in a statement.

The airline also said its teams are proactively reaching out to the affected passengers, who were previously rebooked on other airlines with post-Diwali arrivals, offering them the option to maintain their existing bookings or switch to the additional flight operating today.

There have been complaints that the stranded passengers will not be able to return to India for Diwali due to the flight cancellation on Friday.

The flight AI138 on Friday was to be operated with a Boeing 787-8 plane, also known as Dreamliner.

In a statement on Saturday about the Milan light cancellation, Air India said passengers have been rebooked on alternative flights on or after October 20, based on seat availability with Air India and other airlines.

"Specifically, one of the passengers, whose Schengen visa expires on 20 October, has been rebooked on another airline's flight departing Milan on 19 October to ensure compliance with her visa validity," Air India had said.