Doha-Bound Air India Express Flight From Kozhikode Turns Back After Technical Snag

An Air India Express flight bound for Doha from India's Kozhikode was diverted back shortly after take-off on Wednesday morning following a technical snag, according to Indian media reports.

Flight IX375, departed from Kozhikode around 9am on Wednesday, July 23, but it returned to the base airport two hours later as a precautionary measure. The Boeing 737 aircraft had 188 persons on board, including the pilots and crew.

An Air India Express spokesperson told India Today that the flight returned to Kozhikode after take-off due to a technical issue. An alternative aircraft was arranged on priority, the guests were provided with refreshments during the delay and the flight departed for Doha soon after. "We regret the inconvenience and reiterate that safety remains our top priority in every aspect of our operations," the spokesperson said.

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According to the Economic Times, it was a "precautionary landing" as there was some technical issue in the aircraft's cabin AC. "It was not an emergency landing," they quoted an official as saying.
The airline faced a major snag last week in Dubai when passengers onboard a flight bound for Kozhikode were left sweltering inside the aircraft for over four hours. The flight was later cancelled.

Flight IX 346, scheduled to depart from Dubai at 9am on July 18, began boarding around 8.15am. But what followed, passengers said, was a prolonged and agonising wait on the tarmac with no air conditioning, no updates, and growing frustration.

Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India, which has been hitting the headlines often in the recent past, especially after the deadly crash at Ahmedabad airport last month.

On July 22, a Delhi-bound Air India plane caught fire shortly after landing at the destination. Flight AI315, that had departed from Hong Kong, experienced an auxiliary power unit (APU) fire, while passengers had begun getting off the plane.

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