Vistara announced on Saturday that it is sending a different aircraft and a new set of crew to transport the passengers of its Mumbai-Frankfurt flight to their destination after the flight was redirected to Erzurum Airport in Turkey due to a reported bomb threat on Friday.
The replacement aircraft is expected to reach the Turkish airport by 12:25 (local time) and take off for Frankfurt with all passengers by 14:30 hours (local time), according to an updated statement from Vistara.
The flight UK 27, which operates on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route, departed from Mumbai at 1:01 pm on Friday after a one-hour delay and was supposed to land in Frankfurt (Germany) at 5:30 pm (local time).
However, the Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft was diverted to Turkey after the airline's crew found a note onboard stating that there was a bomb on the aircraft, as per information from Vistara sources.
According to an AP report, 247 passengers and crew members were on board the aircraft.
The flight landed safely at Erzurum Airport at 19:05 (local time) on Friday, according to the airline.
"Since the crew have exceeded their duty time limitation, we are sending an alternate aircraft, with a fresh set of crew, to Erzurum Airport, Turkey, which is expected to arrive there by 1225 hours (local time) and depart for Frankfurt, with all customers, by 1430 hours(local time)," Vistara said in its updated statement.
It said that all the necessary checks had been conducted, and the security agencies had cleared the customers, crew, and aircraft.
In the meantime, Vistara said in the statement that all efforts are being made to minimize customers' inconvenience, including offering them refreshments and meals.
On Friday, the airline said its Flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt "has been diverted to Turkey (Erzurum airport) due to security reasons and has landed safely at 1905 hours" without divulging the number of passengers and crew on board the aircraft.
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