Passengers on board an Air India flight to Calcutta from Delhi on Saturday went without the AC for more than three hours, several passengers have tweeted.

The Air India flight, AI 20, which was scheduled to take off at 2pm on Saturday, took off at 3.45pm, according to passengers.

Airline officials said the flight had taken off at 3.26pm from Delhi.

A passenger tweeted: “BreastCancer patient undergoing #radiation #Harassed in #AirIndia”.

“When we went inside it was very hot. You can imagine how hot Delhi is in summer. Passengers complained to the crew members who said the air conditioner would be switched on soon but it didn’t happen,” said industrialist Mayank Jalan who was on the plane.

“Members of the crew said a passenger seat needed repairs... once an engineer finished fixing it, the AC would be switched on. The plane remained parked till 3.45pm and despite assurances from the crew the AC wasn’t switched on even after take-off.”

The flight landed in Calcutta after an hour and 50 minutes but the AC did not work the entire period, a passenger said.

“Some passengers may have been inconvenienced because the uniform cooling was not working when the aircraft was on the ground,” an Air India official said.

“But once airborne, the AC was operational. We regret any inconvenience caused and are looking into the matter.”