Delhi-bound Air India Dreamliner returns to Hong Kong 1 hour after takeoff due to technical snag

Mumbai: A Delhi-bound Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Hong Kong returned to its airport of origin on Monday within an hour of takeoff after the pilot in command suspected a technical issue. The flight, AI 315, landed safely in Hong Kong and all passengers have disembarked from the plane, the airline said in a statement, adding that the aircraft is undergoing inspection. The flight departed from Hong Kong at 12.16 pm (local time) and was scheduled to land in Delhi at 12.20 pm IST.

The flight had departed after a delay of almost 3.5 hours as its scheduled departure was at 8.50 am, as per flight tracking website flightradar24.com. "AI315 operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 16 June 2025 returned to Hong Kong shortly after takeoff due to a technical issue. The flight landed safely at Hong Kong and is undergoing checks as a matter of abundant precaution. Alternative arrangements have been planned to fly the passengers to their destination Delhi at the earliest," Air India said. "We are providing all necessary on-ground assistance to the passengers to minimise the inconvenience caused by this unforeseen disruption," it said. The spokesperson of Airport Authority Hong Kong said, "A passenger flight, AI315, operated by Air India from Hong Kong to New Delhi made a return to Hong Kong International Airport and requested local standby around 1pm today (Monday). The flight landed safely around 1.15 pm. The airport operations were not affected." A local standby is requested in cases of an emergency landing. Over 270 people were killed on June 12 when a London-bound Air India plane -- a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner -- carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad and crashed less than a minute after takeoff.