India
Air Canada: Harrowing time for 300 flyers of Air Canada Delhi flight diverted to Baku | India News
[ad_1]
NEW DELHI: An Air Canada flight with 300 passengers that left Toronto on Saturday (Oct 21) for Delhi had to divert to Baku possibly following a technical issue on the Boeing 777 operating the route. The B777 had left Toronto at 8.05 pm and landed in Baku at 3.59 pm Sunday (all timings local). Now passengers stranded in Baku, awaiting for an alternate aircraft, are having a harrowing time at the airport there and complaining of the “worst experience” with many sleeping on the floor. Comments have been sought from Air Canada on when will the same reach Baku to fly passengers to Delhi.
Jagdeep Bailey, a passenger on this flight, said in a series of Tweets from his handle @Jagdeep_kailey : “Air Canada flight from Toronto to Delhi made an emergency landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport (Baku), Azerbaijan. Air Canada staff on the flight was extremely rude. They did not provide any information to passengers about where the plane was going to land or what arrangements passengers could expect. Particularly women with young children and aged and sick people. The staff left the airport to spend the night in the city while leaving passengers at the airport. The next flight is expected to take off after more than 20 hours of stay. There is no place for passengers to go. The overwhelming majority of passengers are from India with language problems, no food, no place to sleep and no one to talk to them.”
Another passenger, Gurnoor Singh Tweeted from @Gurnoor73066407 : “When we asked the airport staff about accommodation they said that they don’t have anything arranged even for themselves but they then left for the hotel without communicating anything.”
Sumanpreet Jatna Tweeted from @Sumanpreet1531 : “Horrible experience to land at an unknown airport with no information and no food. No place to go and sleep. Passengers (are with) kids and most (are) elderly sitting on uncomfortable chairs, (or on) floor as Air Canada was unable to arrange e-visa Azerbaijan and provide accommodation.” Another passenger, Mona Srivastava, tweeted: “Horrible experience. We are sleeping on floor. Our one full day of celebration with family is ruined. Worst experience ever.”
About the diversion, Air Canada had said in a Tweet on Sunday: “AC42 Toronto to Delhi, a B777 with 300 customers, has diverted to Baku as a precautionary measure and landed normally. A new aircraft will leave today to pick the customers up and complete the trip.”
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on safely halving lateral separation between aircraft flying in the same direction and altitude from 10 nautical miles (18km) to five in a bid to handle more air traffic as India gears up for a significant increase in airport capacity.
AAI, which provides air navigation services through ATCs, has given itself a year or so to achieve this objective after obtaining the required approvals from aviation regulator DGCA.
It is learnt Nagpur airspace is one of those being treated as a test case. Confirming this, AAI Chairman Sanjeev Kumar told TOI, “Yes, we have submitted safety assessment of the same for implementation to DGCA.”
A senior AAI official told TOI that the rapid expansion of aviation infrastructure – Delhi NCR and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are set to get their second airports by the end of next year – had made it imperative for ATC services to play catch-up without compromising safety.
Jagdeep Bailey, a passenger on this flight, said in a series of Tweets from his handle @Jagdeep_kailey : “Air Canada flight from Toronto to Delhi made an emergency landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport (Baku), Azerbaijan. Air Canada staff on the flight was extremely rude. They did not provide any information to passengers about where the plane was going to land or what arrangements passengers could expect. Particularly women with young children and aged and sick people. The staff left the airport to spend the night in the city while leaving passengers at the airport. The next flight is expected to take off after more than 20 hours of stay. There is no place for passengers to go. The overwhelming majority of passengers are from India with language problems, no food, no place to sleep and no one to talk to them.”
Another passenger, Gurnoor Singh Tweeted from @Gurnoor73066407 : “When we asked the airport staff about accommodation they said that they don’t have anything arranged even for themselves but they then left for the hotel without communicating anything.”
Sumanpreet Jatna Tweeted from @Sumanpreet1531 : “Horrible experience to land at an unknown airport with no information and no food. No place to go and sleep. Passengers (are with) kids and most (are) elderly sitting on uncomfortable chairs, (or on) floor as Air Canada was unable to arrange e-visa Azerbaijan and provide accommodation.” Another passenger, Mona Srivastava, tweeted: “Horrible experience. We are sleeping on floor. Our one full day of celebration with family is ruined. Worst experience ever.”
About the diversion, Air Canada had said in a Tweet on Sunday: “AC42 Toronto to Delhi, a B777 with 300 customers, has diverted to Baku as a precautionary measure and landed normally. A new aircraft will leave today to pick the customers up and complete the trip.”
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on safely halving lateral separation between aircraft flying in the same direction and altitude from 10 nautical miles (18km) to five in a bid to handle more air traffic as India gears up for a significant increase in airport capacity.
AAI, which provides air navigation services through ATCs, has given itself a year or so to achieve this objective after obtaining the required approvals from aviation regulator DGCA.
It is learnt Nagpur airspace is one of those being treated as a test case. Confirming this, AAI Chairman Sanjeev Kumar told TOI, “Yes, we have submitted safety assessment of the same for implementation to DGCA.”
A senior AAI official told TOI that the rapid expansion of aviation infrastructure – Delhi NCR and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are set to get their second airports by the end of next year – had made it imperative for ATC services to play catch-up without compromising safety.
#Air #Canada #Harrowing #time #flyers #Air #Canada #Delhi #flight #diverted #Baku #India #News
