Indonesian woman gives birth on Etihad flight

An Etihad Airways aircraft. AFP FILE PHOTO / FREDERIC J. BROWN

Mumbai, India — An Indonesian woman gave birth on an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta that had to be diverted to Mumbai on Wednesday, Indian officials said.

Flight EY 474 left the emirate for Indonesia’s capital in the early hours of Wednesday but was diverted to India’s commercial hub after the woman went into labor, a Mumbai airport spokesperson told AFP.

“The passenger delivered a female child about 40 minutes before landing” in Mumbai, the spokesperson said.

The woman, described by the spokesperson as being of Indonesian origin, was taken to a nearby hospital and the flight departed Mumbai around 09:40 a.m. (0410 GMT) to complete its journey to Jakarta.

Last year, an Indian women gave birth on a Jet Airways flight from Damman in Saudi Arabia to Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The flight was also diverted to Mumbai.

Jet Airways said it was the first time a baby had been born on one of its flights and that it had given the boy free travel for life on the airline.  /kga