Several passengers, including a few MPs, faced an unexpected delay at the Kochi airport after a Delhi-bound Air India flight aborted its takeoff on Sunday night due to a technical snag.
A spokesperson of the airline said flight AI504 operating from Kochi to Delhi has been rescheduled due a technical issue detected during the take-off roll.
"The cockpit crew decided to discontinue the take-off run following standard operating procedures and brought the aircraft back to the bay for maintenance checks," he said.
The flight AI 504 was to be operated with an Airbus A321 aircraft.
The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) said in a statement that the revised time for takeoff was 1 am on Monday.
"A technical issue caused an Air India flight bound for Delhi to abort the takeoff. Air India is rectifying it and has informed Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) that they are changing the aircraft. The expected new time of departure is 0100 hrs", the CIAL said.
A technical issue caused an Air India flight bound for Delhi to abort the takeoff. Air India is rectifying it and has informed Cochin International Airport (CIAL) that they are changing the aircraft. The expected new time of departure is 0100 hrs: Cochin International Airport PRO
— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2025
The incident came to light after Congress MP Hibi Eden shared his ordeal on social media.
"Something unusual with this flight AI 504... it just felt like the flight skid on the runway... and hasn't taken off yet...," the Ernakulam MP said.
Something unusual with this flight ✈️ AI 504, it just felt like the flight skid on the runway and hasn't taken off yet. Air India cancelled AI 504 and announced a new flight at 1 am which hasn't still started boarding, today is the third flight which has been AOG
— Hibi Eden (@HibiEden) August 17, 2025
Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Mather, also on board, said the pilot announced that the aircraft could not be used for travel.
"Now, the pilot announced...this aircraft cannot be used for travel. So, will be shifting passengers to another aircraft and approximately by 1 am," she was quoted as saying by ANI.
Earlier, Air India cancelled its Milan-Delhi flight on August 16 after detecting a maintenance issue at the last minute.
The Tata Group-owned airline has been facing criticism over frequent incidents of technical snags and flight delays in recent months.
