Air India grounds Kochi-Jeddah due to technical issues

Air India on Saturday grounded its flight to Jeddah due to technical issues leaving many passengers stranded at the international airport in Kochi. The Boeing 747-400 aircraft was scheduled to leave Kochi at around 2000 hours.

An Air India spokesperson said the plane has been grounded on account of some "technical issues" and would now depart tomorrow morning. The passengers are being accommodated in hotel. Specific details, including the number of passengers who were to travel in the flight could not be immediately ascertained.

"AI963 Delta flight will depart from Kochi to Jeddah tomorrow at 1030 hrs LT. Inconvenience to pax regretted," the airline said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the airline said the plane has been grounded due to operational reasons.