A diversion was forced during the maiden flight of SAS's new Copenhagen-Mumbai route. The reason was that the flight lacked the necessary official permits.
After 17 years, it was time again for a SAS-flight to India's economic capital of Mumbai. But the premiere had a disappointing end. Halfway to India, the plane had to turn back. On the Flightradar24 website, flight SK 969 can be seen making a u-turn over Azerbaijan, before flying back to Kastrup.
According to SAS, the fully booked flight had to turn back as the necessary authority permits were missing.
”Based on ongoing dialogue with the relevant authorities, SAS had every reason to believe that the remaining formal approval would be completed while the flight was en route. As the necessary approval was not completed as expected, the flight could not proceed as planned, the company writes in an email response.
”Absolutely appalling”
A passenger writes in an email to SVT that it is ”absolutely appalling to even let a flight leave the airport without having the permits to land.”
It is unclear how the passengers, who had to spend over 12 hours in the air without getting anywhere, will be compensated.
According to SAS, they expect the route to Mumbai to get under way ”in the coming days – as soon as the formal approval has been issued”.
Source: Expressen.se
