Air India, AI Express to do away with flight number ‘171’

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that went down soon after take-off was operating the flight ‘AI 171’ from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick

New Delhi: Air India and Air India Express will do away with flight number ‘171’ after the fatal crash of the Air India plane that killed 241 people onboard on Thursday, according to sources.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that went down soon after take-off was operating the flight ‘171’ from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.

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Sources on Saturday said it is a general practice that airlines stop using particular flight numbers after fatal flight accidents.

From June 17 onwards, the flight number of Ahmedabad-London Gatwick will be ‘AI 159’ instead of ‘AI 171’. The required changes to the booking system were made on Friday, one of the sources said.

Another source said that Air India Express has also decided to do away with its flight number ‘IX 171’.

The discontinuation of the flight number ‘171’ is also a mark of respect for the departed souls, they added.

In 2020, Air India Express also discontinued using the flight number of the aircraft that crashed in Kozhikode, killing 21 people onboard.