Bengaluru:

An Air India spokesperson confirmed the incident to the Press Trust of India (PTI), though they refrained from providing further details. “We are aware of the situation, but we cannot disclose more information at this time,” the official said. “The decision to deboard the passenger was not routine; specific concerns were raised, but we are not in a position to share those.”

A passenger was deplaned from an Air India flight on Wednesday evening at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru, just moments before its scheduled departure to New Delhi. Flight AI-2820 was set to take off at 6:05 PM, but the individual, whose identity has not been disclosed, was offloaded for security reasons.

Security tightened across airports in India following India’s missile attack on Pakistan

This incident comes amid heightened security measures at airports across India, particularly in the wake of recent military operations. On the night of May 6-7, India launched airstrikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan as part of ‘Operation Sindoor,’ a retaliatory move following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack. The attack, which occurred in Jammu and Kashmir, claimed the lives of 26 civilians, many of whom were tourists.

The targets of the strikes were locations known to be used by terrorists affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), two groups notorious for carrying out attacks on Indian soil.

Bengaluru’s KIA issues advisory

“We’re expecting impact on some flights across our network due to airspace restrictions. All passengers are requested to please check directly with your airline for the latest information. You can also find timely updates on their ‘Twitter’ (X) pages,” the airport stated on X (formerly Twitter).

As security at Bengaluru’s KIA was heightened in response, the airport also issued an advisory to passengers. The advisory warned of airspace restrictions that could affect flights and led to some cancellations on May 7. Passengers were advised to check with their respective airlines for the latest information before heading to the airport.

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