Air India Flight Bird Hit At Goa Airport: An Air India flight carrying 116 passengers, set to depart from Goa's Dabolim airport to Mumbai, had to abort take-off on Wednesday morning after a bird hit, a senior official reported. The incident occurred at 6:45 am. Due to the bird hit, smoke started emanating from the aircraft's engine following which the flight take-off was aborted, according to airport director M.C. Jayarajan, who spoke to reporters in Vasco. The air traffic controller reported the incident to senior authorities, he said.


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The flight with 116 passengers on board was scheduled for Mumbai from the Goa International Airport at Dabolim, located near Vasco in South Goa, the official said. "The take-off was aborted immediately and the aircraft is parked in the bay for further investigation," he said.


The Dabolim airport is a part of INS Hansa base of the Indian Navy. Jayarajan said the Airports Authority of India will take up the matter of presence of birds on the runway with the Navy. "This is a serious matter," he added.


In another development on Tuesday, Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, launched six new daily flights, including routes from Chennai and Kolkata, as the airline strengthens its domestic network. 


The new flights include two from Kolkata, three from Chennai, and the first direct flight on the Guwahati-Jaipur sector, the company said. According to the statement, the new routes include Chennai-Bhubaneswar, Chennai-Bagdogra, and Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram; Kolkata-Varanasi, Kolkata-Guwahati, and Guwahati-Jaipur sectors.


The Kolkata-Varanasi flight will take off at 7:40 am and reach Varanasi at 9:05 am, while the return flight will take off from Varanasi at 9.40 am and land in Kolkata at 11.10 am daily.


The Kolkata-Guwahati flight will leave at 12.10 pm and land in Guwahati at 1.25 pm, while the return flight will leave Guwahati at 1.55 pm and reach Kolkata at 4.35 pm, daily.


Part of the Tata Group, Air India Express operates over 380 daily flights with a fleet of 82 aircraft comprising 54 Boeing 737s and 28 Airbus A320s.