Air India, just in time

The Emirates flight from Dubai (EK 506) was the second arrival at Mumbai's new airport terminal, T2, but it could well have been the first. That's because national carrier Air India's Singapore-Chennai-Mumbai flight, which was supposed to be the first, departed late from Singapore. But the airline made up for the lost time and landed in time in Mumbai, much to the relief of the airport staff. They were worried because had the flight been late, the honour of the customary water canon salute would have gone to Emirates, which is informally referred to as India's "unofficial national carrier'" because of the the 185 flights it flies to India per week, the highest by any foreign airline in the country.