For those who fly to save time or to escape the carnage on the roads – India boasts just 1 per cent of the world’s vehicles but about 10 per cent of annual road fatalities – it has been a sobering week.

On Monday, in separate incidents, two ageing Air India aircraft, a Boeing 767 and an Airbus 310, were forced to make emergency landings at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport after suffering problems with their arthritic landing gear. No passengers were hurt but many were scared witless.