It seems that all is not really well in the cash strapped Air India which is finding it difficult to manage flights with reduced strength. Several aircraft of the state-run airlines giant have grounded because of the financial crisis leaving it with no other option but to operate on all the routes with lesser number of planes.
According to sources, Air India is using same aircraft on two routes. This however, is affecting the punctuality of the flights. Many of the Air India flights are reportedly running late across the country and Nagpur is no exception.
On Monday, Air India flight number AI629 from Mumbai to Nagpur arrived here two hours late. The scheduled arrival time of the flight was 8.30 pm but it actually landed at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here at 10.30 pm.
Sources said, the same aircraft was earlier flown between Mumbai and Udaipur. The flight on Monday which was delayed by two hours reached Mumbai late. It is learnt that the flight did not take from Udaipur on its scheduled time. As a result it arrived in Nagpur two hours late than its scheduled time.
Sources informed that Air India is also running the Mumbai-Nagpur flight via Bhopal to manage things amid crisis. As a result this flight gets delayed and at times bad weather was blamed for the delay. Since monsoon has covered most parts of Maharashtra people get convinced that the fight was delayed due it rains. However, if experts are to believed then the worst phase of the Air India crisis is yet to come. Air India has been bestowed with the responsibility to ferry the Haj pilgrims to Kingdom Saudi Arabia. For this special flights would be needed. Air India is already operating at reduced strength and providing special flights for Haj would surely be a mammoth task for the airlines.
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