The Air India flight AI-111, about to take off from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on Monday, was delayed by more than three hours after a swarm of ants was noticed in its business class.
The Air India Boeing 787 plane bound for London had to be switched ahead of take-off from Delhi’s IGI Airport following the complaint about insects. Air India changed the aircraft and substituted it with another Boeing 787.
Among the passengers onboard the plane was Prince of Bhutan Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck – the son and heir apparent of the Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
After the issue was addressed, the flight departed from the airport at 5.20 pm.
In July a cracked windshield had forced an Air India Express flight bound for Saudi Arabia to make an emergency landing at Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram International airport.
Also, in May, an Air India flight to Newark in the US had to return to Delhi after a bat was spotted inside the plane. The bat was found dead inside the plane’s business class area.