The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Tuesday the recent inspection of Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet has not revealed any significant safety issues and Air India has cancelled 66 flights to be operated with Boeing 787 since the June 12 fatal Ahmedabad plane crash which involved an aircraft of the same model.
"The recent surveillance conducted on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns. The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," the DGCA said. It has advised Air India to strengthen internal coordination. DGCA also reviewed recent operational data for Air India's wide-body operations, with specific attention to the Boeing 787 fleet.
Air India's Dreamliners came under intense scrutiny from aviation authorities after flight AI 171, bound for London, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad at 1:38 pm on June 12, killing 241 of the 242 people on board.
DGCA has completed a focused review of Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, amid rising concerns over recurring technical issues and increasing international flight volumes post Ahmedabad crash.
In a meeting held with key executives from Air India and Air India Express, the DGCA reviewed the operational robustness of the carriers, with particular attention to the Boeing 787 aircraft, which form the backbone of Air India's long-haul network.
While recent weeks have seen a spate of long-haul cancellations and flight disruptions, many involving the Dreamliner, the DGCA clarified that enhanced surveillance checks conducted on the 787 fleet revealed no major safety concerns.
"A total of 24 Boeing 787 aircraft underwent required safety inspections. All were found compliant with existing aviation safety standards. Emphasis was placed on effective passenger facilitation and timely dissemination of information through all available channels," the regulator said in a statement.
The DGCA said that the "Enhances Safety Inspection" mandated under Order Para 1 is applicable to the entire Air India B787-8/9 fleet, comprising 33 aircraft. Of these, 4 aircraft are currently undergoing major checks at various MRO facilities. As of 1500 hrs on 17 June 2025, a total of 24 aircraft have successfully completed the required check. An additional 2 aircraft are planned for completion today, with 1 more scheduled for tomorrow. The remaining six aircraft include two aircraft, which are presently AOG at Delhi. The checks on these two will be carried out post-declaration of serviceability and prior to their return to service. The remaining 4 aircraft currently under MRO will undergo the mandated check prior to their release from the respective maintenance hangars.
However, the DGCA flagged maintenance-related issues, particularly around the availability of spare parts and internal coordination between engineering, ground handling, and operations teams. The regulator advised Air India to strengthen these areas to minimise flight delays and improve reliability.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is central to Air India's global ambitions, operating on key routes to Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. As flight volumes surge post-Covid, ensuring the aircraft remain operationally sound is critical to the airline's turnaround strategy under the Tata Group.Air India has not yet issued a statement following the DGCA's advisory.
AI flights disrupted
Technical snags continued to dog Air India for the second consecutive days on Tuesday as seven international flights — all using the 787-8 Dreamliner - were cancelled while several others reported mid flight scares due to adverse weather conditions. The cancelled services are AI 915 (Delhi-Dubai), AI 153 (Delhi-Vienna), AI 143 (Delhi-Paris), AI 159 (Ahmedabad-London), AI 133 (Bengaluru-London) AI 170 (London-Amritsar) and AI179 - Mumbai to San Francisco.
In addition to these, a technical issue also affected a Dreamliner operating as AI 315 to Delhi, forcing the pilot to return to Hong Kong. Also, two Dreamliners operated by Lufthansa and British Airways - flying from Frankfurt and London to Hyderabad and Chennai - were forced to return to their origin airports.
After the Ahmedabad crash, a series of technical snags was reported onboard the Boeing Dreamliner aircraft over the last 48 hours, leading to several questions about the safety of passengers.
While Air India cancelled the Delhi-Paris flight after some problems were detected during pre-flight checks, its Ahmedabad-London one was cancelled due to unavailability of aircraft. Separately, Air India terminated its San Francisco-Mumbai flight at its scheduled stopover at Kolkata early on Tuesday morning after one of its engines developed a technical snag. The disruptions came as investigators probe what caused a London-bound Air India flight to crash in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on June 12, killing more than 270 people onboard and on the ground.
In a statement, Air India said flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris has been cancelled after "mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed". It did not detail the issue that came to light during pre-flight checks.
Consequently, the return service, Air India flight AI 142, scheduled to fly from Paris to Delhi on Wednesday, has also been cancelled. "Flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris (on) June 17 has been cancelled. The mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed.
"However, in view of the flight coming under the restrictions on night operations at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport, the said the flight has been cancelled," Air India said. "We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers and are making alternative arrangements... We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling, if opted for by the passengers," the airline said. Flight AI143 was to depart from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport for Paris at 1.15 pm and reach its destination at 7.15 pm. Air India also said it is making alternative arrangements to fly passengers to their destination at the earliest.
The airline, which on Monday resumed flights from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick with a new code AI159 instead of AI171 of the flight that crashed on June 12, had to cancel the flight on Tuesday due to unavailability of aircraft.
It denied claims that a technical snag led to the cancellation and maintained that it has made alternative arrangements for the affected passengers to their destination and offered full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by them. Air India's official website confirmed that the AI-159 flight from Ahmedabad to the Gatwick airport in London stands cancelled after being rescheduled. The plane was scheduled to depart at 3 pm from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA).
"Flight AI-159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick (London) has been cancelled today (Tuesday) due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft, and not due to any technical snag as claimed," an AI spokesperson said. "We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers and have made alternative arrangements to fly them to their destination. We are providing hotel accommodation and also offering full refunds on cancellations or complimentary rescheduling if opted by passengers," he added.
Consequently, flight AI-170 from London (Gatwick) to Amritsar on June 17 stands cancelled, the airline said. Iran has closed its airspace due to its ongoing war with Israel, affecting flights headed to Europe. AI's direct flight from Ahmedabad to London was earlier known by its assigned code 'AI-171'.
Airport sources said the flight having code AI-171 was suspended after the horrific crash which claimed 270 lives, including 29 people on the ground. It resumed operation on Monday (June 16), five days after the crash, with a new flight code AI-159, said an airport official.
Separately, an Air India flight from San Francisco to Mumbai via Kolkata suffered a technical snag early Tuesday, requiring passengers to deboard during a scheduled halt at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The termination led to chaotic scenes at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport as the 211 passengers on the Boeing 777-200 LR tried to convince officials to let them reach their destination at the earliest. The airline did not issue an official statement. Sources said Air India is making "special arrangements" to fly the stranded passengers to Mumbai. No further details were available.
Usually, the carrier flies directly to Mumbai from San Francisco but the ongoing geopolitical events, including the closure of Pakistani airspace, have led AI to reroute it and take a "technical halt" in Kolkata. Flight AI-180 landed in Kolkata at the scheduled time of 12.45 am, even though it took off one hour late from San Francisco. According to sources, a technical issue was detected during routine post-landing checks, and the airline decided to do a comprehensive check.
It was scheduled to depart for Mumbai at 2 am, but passengers came to know of the problems only after 2.40 am when the crew announced there was a problem with the left engine. However, this announcement was accompanied by a specific promise, that the snag will take up to 25 minutes to get sorted. The next announcement came at 4.20 am when the pilots sought another 15-20 minutes for rectification of the problem.
The engineers could be seen working on the left engine even as a drizzle continued, but the problem persisted. Finally, around 5.20 am, the pilots announced that a resolution was not possible and asked all passengers to deplane. After disembarking and passing the mandatory immigration, collecting baggage and passing the customs channels, the passengers were asked to sit in a designated area.
In the aftermath of the June 12 AI-171 crash three other India-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliners - operated by British Airways, Lufthansa, and Air India - were forced to return to origin airports. One of those was a Hong Kong-Delhi AI flight that returned 15 minutes after taking off; Air India said AI-315 turned around because of a "technical issue" but gave no further details. The other two were from Frankfurt (to Hyderabad) and London (to Chennai).
In another incident, a Lucknow-bound IndiGo flight from Goa experienced mid-air turbulence on Monday due to adverse weather conditions but the crew navigated the aircraft safely, the airline said in a statement on Tuesday. The flight 6E 6811 landed safely in Lucknow, the airline said without divulging further details. "IndiGo flight 6E 6811 from North Goa to Lucknow on June 16, experienced turbulence momentarily due to prevailing active monsoon weather conditions in western India," the airline said. It further said its pilots and cabin crew, trained to handle such situations, followed "established protocols" to ensure customer safety.