Chennai: It was a delayed take off for the first British Airways (BA) flight from Chennai to London on Thursday.
International flights were badly hit and were grounded in view of the world-wide covid pandemic and the lockdown for the last several months.
Only the government authorised flights under Vande Bharat mission were allowed to operate during the lockdown period.
With the Covid cases relenting in Chennai, the first BA flight in eight months landed in Chennai with 189 passengers. In the return direction, the first flight headed for Heatthrow airport in London from Chennai with 162 passengers, including four infants, took off after a delay of 90 minutes.
The flight, which was scheduled to take off at 5.31 AM, departed at 7:04 am on Thursday. The Heathrow-bound flight carried 162 passengers including four infants.
Though officially no reason was announced for the delayed departure, airport sources said cited ‘operational reasons’ for the delay.