The Air India special chartered flight ‘AIC24WC,’ carrying the victorious Indian cricket team back home, has become one of the world’s most-tracked flights on the flight tracking portal Flightradar24. The flight, which took off from Barbados on Wednesday (July 3), has garnered significant attention, with over 9,500 users tracking its journey in real-time as of this report.
Flightradar24 took to the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to share the excitement: “Our most tracked flight right now —🏏 T20 World Cup champions India on their way home.” The call sign ‘AIC24WC’ symbolizes the team’s World Cup triumph, with ‘AIC’ representing ‘Air India Chartered flight’ and ’24WC’ denoting the ‘T20 World Cup 2024’ victory.
Our most tracked flight right now — 🏏 T20 World Cup champions India on their way home. https://t.co/CxoSyk3jU8 pic.twitter.com/1e93hdwv4a
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 3, 2024
The Indian cricket team is expected to land in New Delhi early on July 4 at 6:20 am, after departing from Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados. The departure was delayed due to Hurricane Beryl.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla provided an update on the team’s schedule: “The flight will land at Delhi airport tomorrow at 6 am. The team will meet PM Narendra Modi at 11 am at his residence. After this, the team will fly to Mumbai, where a ceremony has been organised.”
The team is scheduled to arrive in Mumbai at 4:00 pm, where they will head to the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). A two-hour open bus parade will begin at 5:00 pm from the NCPA and continue to the Wankhede Stadium. A felicitation event to honor the players and squad members is planned from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm, after which the players will return to their hotel.
Captain Rohit Sharma invited fans to join the celebrations via social media: “We want to enjoy this special moment with all of you. So let’s celebrate this win with a victory parade at Marine Drive & Wankhede on July 4th from 5:00 pm onwards. It’s coming home,” Sharma posted on ‘X.’
BCCI secretary Jay Shah also encouraged fans to participate in the victory parade: “Join us for the Victory Parade honouring Team India’s World Cup win! Head to Marine Drive and Wankhede Stadium on July 4th from 5:00 pm onwards to celebrate with us! Save the date! #TeamIndia,” Shah wrote on ‘X.’
The Indian cricket team’s triumphant return is set to be a grand celebration, uniting fans and players in joy and pride over the historic T20 World Cup victory.