Air India Passengers Face Long Delay as Flight Briefly Enters Pakistan Airspace
Air India Delhi Amritsar Flight
An Air India flight travelling from Delhi to Amritsar accidentally entered Pakistan’s airspace on Monday night, triggering concern and leading to a delay of several hours for passengers. The incident is now being investigated by authorities.
According to sources, Air India flight AI-321, an Airbus aircraft, took off from Delhi at around 9:18 pm on Monday. The flight was scheduled to land at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar at approximately 10:30 pm. However, during the journey, the aircraft reportedly deviated from its planned route and briefly entered Pakistan’s airspace.
Sources said the pilot became aware of the situation only after the aircraft started receiving warnings from the Pakistan Air Traffic Authority. The warnings alerted the crew that the plane had strayed from its designated path.
The incident comes at a sensitive time, as relations between India and Pakistan remain strained following the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025. Because of the tense relations between the two neighbouring countries, the brief entry of an Indian passenger aircraft into Pakistani airspace raised concerns among aviation authorities.
Officials from the Airport Authority of India (AAI), which manages the Amritsar airport, said the aircraft also experienced a technical issue during the flight. Due to the situation, the local airport control room advised the aircraft to return to Delhi instead of continuing to Amritsar.
The plane safely landed back in Delhi. After necessary checks and obtaining the required permissions, the flight departed again for Amritsar nearly two hours later. The aircraft finally landed in Amritsar at around 2:20 am on the intervening night of June 22 and June 23.
As a result of the unexpected diversion and delay, passengers had to wait nearly four hours longer than expected to reach their destination. While there have been no reports of injuries or safety issues involving passengers or crew members, the incident caused inconvenience and anxiety among travellers.
Bhupender Singh, the Airport Director of Amritsar airport, tried to downplay the incident. He stated that the aircraft did not travel deep into Pakistan’s territory and went only about one-and-a-half miles into Pakistani airspace. He described the incident as “nothing unusual” and said there was no immediate cause for alarm.
Explaining why the aircraft returned to Delhi, Singh said the plane had approached Amritsar airport but could not stabilise properly for landing. Therefore, the pilots decided to turn back to Delhi as a precautionary measure.
Aviation experts say that while aircraft deviations can happen due to technical issues, weather conditions or navigation problems, any unintended entry into another country’s airspace is treated seriously. Such incidents generally lead to detailed investigations to determine the exact cause and ensure similar situations do not occur in the future.
Authorities are now examining the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the reported technical fault and the aircraft’s route deviation. The investigation is expected to determine whether the incident was caused by equipment failure, navigation issues or other operational factors.
