Air India Express Flight To Doha Returns Shortly After Takeoff From Calicut Due To Technical Issue

Representative image. (Photo: IANS)

An Air India Express flight traveling from Calicut International Airport to Doha was forced to return a few hours after departure on Wednesday due to a technical issue.

Flight number IX 375, carrying 188 passengers including pilots and crew, took off from Calicut at 9:07 am but returned to the same airport two hours later at 11:12 am, PTI reported, quoting an airport official.

An Air India Express spokesperson said that they have arranged an alternative aircraft on priority and provided the guests with refreshments. 

This comes a day after an Air India flight operating from Hong Kong to Delhi suffered an auxiliary power unit (APU) fire shortly after the aircraft landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.

The APU is a small engine located typically at the tail of an aircraft. It provides power to essential systems when the main engines are off, such as during boarding, disembarkation, or while the aircraft is parked at the gate.

According to the airline, the incident occurred while the aircraft was parked at the gate and passengers had begun to disembark.

“Flight AI 315, operating from Hong Kong to Delhi on 22 July 2025, experienced an auxiliary power unit (APU) fire shortly after it had landed and parked at the gate. The incident occurred while passengers had begun disembarking, and the APU was automatically shut down as per system design," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.

No injuries were reported among the passengers or crew members. The aircraft remains grounded at Delhi pending a technical evaluation and inspection by regulatory authorities.

On Monday, a technical issue was detected during the take-off roll of Air India flight AI2403 from Delhi to Kolkata evening, which led the cockpit crew to abort the take-off in line with established safety protocols.

(With ANI Inputs)