Air India flight from Abu Dhabi makes emergency landing in Pakistan

An Air India flight bound for New Delhi carrying 122 passengers has made an emergency landing at a Pakistani airport after a hydraulic failure.

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ABU DHABI// An Air India flight from Abu Dhabi that was bound for New Delhi carrying 122 passengers made an emergency landing at a Pakistani airport early this morning after a hydraulic failure.

Flight number AI 940, an Airbus 319 aircraft, left the UAE capital a little past midnight and made the emergency landing at Nawab Shah airport in Sindh province four hours later.

"It landed in Pakistan because of emergency," said Abhay Pathak, Air India's Regional Manager of Gulf, Middle East and Africa.

"An Airbus 320 has left from India to take passengers back. At 1530 [today], they will be back in India," he said.

Mr Pathak said this was the first time that the national carrier had landed in Pakistan.

The passengers are being cared for by local authorities and ground handling staff, according to the carrier's UAE representative.

The struggling Indian national carrier has been reeling under huge financial losses and pilot strikes. Last week, hundreds of its pilots called off a 58-day strike after a court ordered them to return to work. Safety concerns have also been raised over its ageing fleet.

pkannan@thenational.ae