An Air India flight (IX1014) from Delhi to Patna was diverted to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh due to bad weather in Patna, Bihar. However, the the flight resumed and landed in Patna when the weather improved.
This comes after another Air India flight from Bali to Delhi was diverted to Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport earlier this week due to bad weather in the national capital.
However, the flight later departed for Delhi the same night after the stop at Varanasi on Tuesday, June 17.
Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi, Puneet Gupta, said the Air India flight AI 2146 had to be diverted as the visibility was severely reduced due to poor weather conditions over Delhi, making it unsafe for the aircraft to land.
"The flight, carrying 187 passengers, safely landed at Varanasi airport," Gupta said, adding that "all necessary passenger amenities were ensured during the delay. The plane received clearance for take-off later in the night and was flown back to Delhi.
Another Delhi-Bali flight was diverted back to the national capital on Wednesday after a volcano erupted near the Bali airport. Later, Air India issued a statement saying that the flight landed back safely in Delhi and that all passengers were disembarked.
"Air India flight AI2145 on June 18 from Delhi to Bali was advised to air return to Delhi due to reports of volcanic eruption near destination airport Bali, in the interest of safety," it said.
In a separate incident, an Air India flight from Mumbai to Hyderabad with 92 passengers on board was grounded and subsequently cancelled on Friday due to a technical glitch.
A technical snag was noticed after boarding, following which the passengers were disembarked and accommodated in another Air India flight. "AI 2534 to Mumbai was cancelled due to technical reasons," PTI reported citing sources.
Air India on Tuesday cancelled seven international flights, taking the total number of cancellations by the airlines since the Ahmedabad plane crash to more than 80.