Air India flight gets water salute in Male to mark 46 years of India-Maldives air service

When Air India aircraft AI-267 arrived at the Maldives' Male airport on February 21, it was greeted with a water cannon salute. The salute marked the 46th anniversary of air service between India and the Maldives. On Twitter, Air India posted a brief video of a water salute.

Air India's tweet read, "#Fly AI: AI-267 was welcomed with a water canon salute as it landed at Male airport #MACLmedia today to commemorate 46 years of air service between India & Maldives. (sic)"

The video shows water spurring from opposite directions while the aeroplane glides in between the water cannons. AI-267 glides softly along the runway after landing. Since being shared on Twitter five hours ago, the video has been viewed over 6,500 times.

In February 1976, Air India flew the first trip from Trivandrum to Male, according to the company. Last month, Air India formally joined the Tata Group, the company's initial founder. On January 27, the government officially turned over the airline to Tata Group.

The Tata Group has regained control of Air India, the country's flag airline, after nearly seven decades. In January of this year, the Tata Group, which had submitted the highest bid of Rs 18,000 crore in the Air India disinvestment, took over the airline from the government.

Moreover, despite the COVID pandemic, India and the Maldives have maintained their air bubble system. 'Transport Bubbles' are temporary agreements between two governments that allow commercial passenger services to resume while regular international flight suspensions continue.

(Image: @airindiain/Twitter)