Air India Relief Flight En Route Russia to Rescue Stranded Passengers

New Delhi: A relief flight by Air India was operated on Friday to bring back the stranded passengers of the Delhi-San Francisco Air India flight that was diverted to Russia on Thursday due to a mid-air technical snag.

The flyers were stranded at the Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA) in Russia since Thursday.

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

"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.

Earlier in the day, Air India had said that regulatory clearances had been obtained for a relief flight, which would depart from Mumbai to fly the stranded passengers from the Russian airport.

The airline said it has also set up a dedicated hotline -- India (011 -69329301), the US (+13177390126) -- for information.

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.

Food and beverage amenities at the terminal, which were closed for the evening, have now opened and meals are being provided to all passengers, the airline said.

Moreover, representatives from the Indian consulate in Moscow have travelled overnight and are working with the Russian authorities to allow passengers to move to hotels, which have been on standby throughout the night, according to Air India.

(With PTI inputs)