Kathmandu-bound Air India flight aborts landing due to unstable approach, incident reported to DGCA.An Air India aircraft from Kathmandu to New Delhi with 173 people on board was forced to abort its flight after it suffered a flat tyre before take off on Friday, news agency PTI reported.

The flight was scheduled to depart from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to New Delhi at 4:30 pm local time.

A duty officer at Air India confirmed that the flight AI 216 suffered a flat tyre before take-off.

The Air India flight will be rescheduled on Saturday after completing the required maintenance work, the official said.

It is to be noted that the Air India flight had 164 passengers and 9 crew members on board, the official said.

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The Airbus 320 aircraft was removed from the runway and towed to the parking area, he added.

According to a report by My Republica newspaper, the plane had reached the threshold area from the taxiway, and was preparing to take off when it suffered a flat tyre.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the airline issued a statement saying some of its ultra long-haul flights have been facing delays due to issues related to airport entry passes.

"Air India regrets that some of our North America flights have been delayed due to operational issues arising from the slower-than-expected issuance of Airport Entry Passes to cabin crew," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.

However, the airline dismissed rumours regarding shortage of cabin crew.

"Nonetheless, we regret the inconvenience that the delay may have caused to our valuable passengers," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said the airline has been hiring proactively over the last few months in order to cater to the growing traffic on domestic and international routes.