Air India issues apology to passengers of Delhi-San Francisco flight, offers full fare refund

The airline had to divert its Delhi-San Francisco flight with 225 passengers and 19 crew members to the Russian city on Thursday after the cockpit crew detected a potential issue in the cargo hold area of the Boeing 777 aircraft

Air India on Saturday issued an apology for the passengers of Delhi-San Francisco flight passengers, who were stranded at the Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA) in Russia after the cockpit crew detected a potential issue in the cargo hold area of the Boeing 777 aircraft.

In a note issued by a senior official of the airline, it said," Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience that you have undergone enroute your journey to San Francisco. We completely understand that the past 24 hours were difficult and thank you for your patience during this period. Your safety was our prime consideration throughout and governed our pilots' decision to make a precautionary landing at Krasnoyarsk International Airport [KJA], Russia."

"It was a difficult, yet important decision for us to land at an airport outside our network. We are thankful for the support extended to us by the local authorities, the Indian consulate in Moscow and our extended partners at the airport," the statement further added.
"While we cannot obliterate the experience that you have undergone, as a gesture to convey our sincere regrets, we will fully refund the fare for your journey and will incrementally provide you a voucher for future travel on Air India, the airline announced

Earlier, the airline had to divert its Delhi-San Francisco flight with 225 passengers and 19 crew members to the Russian city on Thursday
"Our ferry flight AI1179 from Mumbai (BOM) to Krasnoyarsk, Russia (KJA) is now airborne, and is expected to arrive at KJA at 2000 hours (local time) on 19 July," Air India said in a post on X. It also said that an Air India team, including crew and security personnel, are onboard the ferry flight to provide any support that the passengers and staff at the Russian airport may require.

The ferry flight is carrying essentials in addition to sufficient food for all passengers. The aircraft will ferry all passengers and crew out of KJA at the earliest, it said.

After the flight made a precautionary landing at KJA, Air India said its local support was activated to assist passengers, who were required by authorities to remain in the terminal building in the absence of Russian visas.