Air India to commence normal ops to US from Friday
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Jan, 2022 11:24 AM
New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) National carrier Air India will commence normal operations to US from Friday, the airline said.
On Tuesday, the national carrier said that it will not be able to operate a number of US-bound flights due to the deployment of 5G communications in the US.
As per industry insiders, the 5G network technology might cause certain crucial flight instruments to malfunction.
The airline informed passengers via its official Twitter handle: "#FlyAI : Flight operations to/from destinations in USA were affected during last two days.
"We would like to inform our passengers traveling to/from destinations in the USA that effective 0001hrs of 21st January 2022 normal flights operations will recommence to/from USA."
Earlier in the day, Boeing had cleared AI to operate to the US on Boeing 777 aircraft.
Accordingly, the first Air India flight left from New Delhi to JFK airport on Thursday morning.
Besides, Air India is expected to operate other flights to Chicago and San Francisco.
"Arrangements to carry stranded passengers are being worked out," the airline said.
The US air transport regulator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has been concerned that a version of 5G could interfere with some airplane instruments.
Earlier, aviation industry groups had shared those fears. This is despite reassurances from federal telecom regulators and well as wireless carriers.
Specifically, the FAA has been worried that 5G cellular antennas near some airports - not air mobile devices - could throw off readings from some aircraft equipment designed to tell pilots how far they are from the ground.
The systems, radar altimeters, are used throughout a flight and are considered critical.
At present, Air India operates to 5 destinations in the US.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of the farmers protesting along the borders of the national capital over agricultural issues, have agreed to the draft proposal prepared by the Central government, and is expected make a "major announcement" on Thursday. A meeting is likely to be held on Thursday noon to decide the further strategy of the movement.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress high command for appointing Ajay Maken as the Chairman of the screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the next Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab. In a statement here, Amarinder Singh said Maken is the nephew of (late) Lalit Maken, who was one of the main culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the sand mafia in Punjab alone runs illegal business of over Rs 20,000 crore. There are serious allegations of direct involvement of ruling Congress MLAs, their ministers and their close associates, including the Chief Minister himself.
Farmers' agitation on the borders of the national capital is likely to end soon as the Centre on Tuesday gave a written assurance on their demands. After a meeting in the evening, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spear-heading the agitation, said that they will meet again on Wednesday as they have sought some clarifications from the government on its communication.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation, Putin visited New Delhi for the 21st India-Russia annual summit. He extended an invitation to Modi to visit Russia for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit in 2022.
For the third consecutive day, Maharashtra reported cases of Covid-19 variant Omicron, with two more in Mumbai taking the state's tally to 10, health officials said on Monday.
