Dimapur-bound passengers were made to face another ordeal at Kolkata airport, when the departure was delayed thrice till finally, the flight was cancelled after they were kept in suspense for over six hours.
On Monday, passengers who had arrived at the airport hours ahead for departure at 12.10 p.m. were informed that the flight would take off only at 1.30 p.m. Later, just before boarding, they were again informed that departure was delayed to 2.30 p.m.
Finally, the passengers were allowed to board the plane and once inside, by 3 p.m. were informed that the flight was cancelled. The irate passengers refused to deplane and when asked for the reason for the cancellation, Air India officials explained that it was because there was no Instrument Landing System(ILS) to facilitate night landing and take off at Dimapur airport.
It was only after Air India officials gave a written undertaking to schedule a special flight on Tuesday at 10 a.m. did the passengers finally deplaned and later accommodated in a hotel by the airlines.
It may also be recalled that on December 13,2014 around 111 passengers bound for Dimapur from Kolkata, were made to wait over six hours when the departure was extended over and over again, till Air India officials finally announced at 4 p.m. that the flight was cancelled owing to sunset time restriction(when an aircraft is not supposed to land or take off after 4 p.m.).
Later Air India official told some of the passengers that the plane cannot land at Dimapur airport as it did not have ILS. However, as reported earlier by Nagaland Post, on November 30,2014 the aircraft carrying prime minister Narendra Modi, landed at Dimapur airport by ILS from Imphal at 6 p.m.
Friday, February 20, 2026