The four-year-old A330-203, bearing the registration number F-GZCP, flew into Bangalore on May 26 and May 28, leaving for Charles de Gaulle, Paris, the same day on both occasions. The aircraft did not report any technical problems, air traffic controllers who cleared it for take-off said.

“The Air France plane, with registration number F-GZCP, was at the Bengaluru International Airport on both days,” A N Vishwanathan, General Manager, Aerodromes, BIA, told The Indian Express.

Vishwanathan clarified that this aircraft was different from another that landed in Bangalore at 11.46 pm on May 30, and left for Paris just over two hours later. “The registration number of the aircraft that left Bengaluru airport on May 31 was F-GZCI, as per our records,” Vishwanathan said.