HYDERABAD: An early morning Air India flight from Hyderabad to Vishakhapatnam was delayed for about 12 hours on Sunday after a rat was spotted in the aircraft just before its take-off.

According to reports, the Air India (AI) flight AI 952 was scheduled to depart at 6.10 am. Passengers on board were made to wait at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here all day up to 5.30 pm.

Confirming the incident, AirIndia officials said that the staff took up fumigation to sanitise the flight as they spotted the presence of rodent in the airbus before it could resume its onward journey.

According to sources, the frustrated passengers at the city airport went from one AI official to the other hoping to get some clarity on the status of their flight. Upon this, they were convinced that the services will resume within an hour but it eventually got stretched till evening.

Many of the passengers took to social media to express their frustration and grievances. "#AI952 which was supposed to depart from #Hyderabad to #Vishakhapatnam at 0610 hrs is delayed to 1500 hrs. They are unable to manage alternate flight also for the passengers," tweeted Naren, one of the passengers.

Another flier who was waiting at Vizag airport to board the same aircraft to Delhi, posted : "@DGCAIndia: Rat menace delays AI 952 by 8hrs 15 min which later becomes AI452 I.E. VZG-DEL. Spotting of rat is a serious case of complacency. Lot of passengers stranded at VZG Airport. Flight boarding still not commenced. Aviation ministry pls look into the matter."

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