Air India announced that hundreds of U.S. bound passengers who were stuck in Russia have been replaced on a flight to San Francisco.
The flight left Magadan in Russia at 10:27 am local time on Thursday (7:27 pm ET Wednesday) and was expected to arrive at San Francisco at 12:00 am local time on Thursday, according to the airline .
Air India announced that it would mobilize additional support to the airport in San Francisco for clearance procedures upon the arrival of the flight. The flight is carrying all passengers as well as crew members who were stranded.
The code for San Francisco International Airport was used to add, “The team at SFO will provide all the necessary assistance to passengers including, but not limited, to medical care, transportation on the ground, and connections to other airports in appropriate cases.”
Air India was criticized for its decision to land in Russia in an emergency situation amid the geopolitical tensions caused by the conflict in Ukraine which disrupted air traffic routes. Air India, along with other airlines, has continued to fly over Russia while U.S. carriers, European carriers, and Japanese carriers, have all stopped doing so.
The original Delhi-to-San-Francisco flight Tuesday was diverted to the remote port town in Russia’s far east after one of its engines developed a technical problem. Air India reported that the plane landed without incident and that the local airport authorities “provided all support and cooperation upon the arrival of the flight.”
The airline dispatched a reserve aircraft to pick up 216 passengers, including 16 crew members. Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the State Department, said that less than 50 U.S. Citizens were on board.
The situation had caused passengers to express their concern and complain about the conditions. Air India, whose staff is not based in Russia said that it had made “sincere efforts to accommodate passengers locally in hotels with the assistance of local government officials,” but passengers “were eventually moved to a temporary accommodation.”
The airline tweeted, “We apologize deeply for any inconvenience we may have caused.”
