Air India's six Boeing 777 aircraft cleared to fly to US

New Delhi: After keeping several hundred passengers on tenterhook for two days,  Air India on Thursday resumed six India-US flights on Boeing B777 aircraft on Thursday after Boeing  gave the clearance to operate them.

The airline released a statement saying Boeing has issued a clearance to operate flights on its B777 aircraft. The airline also said all flights to the US will normalize from Friday.

The decision by Air India came after US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave approval which includes most Boeing Co. and Airbus SE models, including Boeing 777, which was left off of the list on Sunday, saying radio altimeters fitted in certain types of aircraft, including B777, will not be affected by 5G services. Several foreign carriers had canceled flights to the U.S. on the 777 after Boeing issued a warning to its operators.

"Boeing has cleared Air India to operate in the USA on B777. Accordingly, first flight left this morning to JFK. Other



flights leaving in the day are to Chicago & SFO Arrangements to carry stranded passengers are being worked out. Matter regarding B777 flying into the USA has been sorted," according to a statement issued by Air India.

Later during the day, Air India said on Twitter that while flight operations to and from destinations in the US were affected during last two days, normal flights operations will recommence to and from the US "effective 0001 hrs of January 21".

The Air India flights that have resumed their operations from Thursday are Delhi-New York, New York-Delhi, Delhi-Chicago, Chicago-Delhi, Delhi- San Francisco and San Francisco-Delhi. Along with these six flights, two other flights — Mumbai-Newark and Newark-Mumbai — were cancelled by Air India on Wednesday.

Air India had cancelled eight flights on India-US routes on Wednesday due to deployment of 5G internet in North America which could interfere with aircraft's radio altimeters.