Air India to Bring Back Some International Flights – But Makes Other Cuts

Skift

9 hours ago

Air India is trying to regain its footing after a major crisis. But this is still a period of uncertainty for the airline and its partners.
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Air India said Tuesday it is bringing back parts of its international schedule that it had cut after the crash involving flight AI171 – but it is also making adjustments elsewhere, including reductions on certain routes.
The airline had previously reduced its long-haul flights by around 15%, citing the need for extra safety checks and the impact of global airspace restrictions.
Air India plans full restoration of services by October 1.
Increased Frequencies
From August 1 until September 30, Air India is launching a new thrice weekly service between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow, replacing the earlier Gatwick connection.
The key routes seeing restored frequencies include Delhi-London Heathrow, which will now be back to 24 weekly flights from July 16, as well as Delhi-Zurich, which is increasing from 4 to 5 flights weekly from August 1.
The airline is bringing back its Delhi-Amsterdam operations – currently operating five flights a week – to its seven-day schedule starting August 1.
The airline will also fully reinstate its Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda) to seven times a week while the Delhi-Seoul (Incheon) services will get back to five weekly by September 1.
The Delhi-Chicago route will also increase to four flights a week in August.
The Amritsar–Birmingham service is scheduled to return to three flights a week beginning September 1.
Further Reductions
The airline will further reduce the Bengaluru–London Heathrow route to just four times a week from August 1.
There are also frequency reductions on key New York routes. The Delhi-New York JFK service will reduce from daily to six flights a week, effective July 16, while Mumbai-New York JFK will also shift to six weekly flights, starting August 1.
Flights from Delhi to Newark Liberty Airport will drop from five to four per week, also beginning July 16.
The airline will reduce the Delhi–Paris service from 12 flights a week to 7, effective August 1. Similarly, Delhi–Milan will drop from four to three flights weekly, with the change taking effect July 16.
Routes at Their Previously Reduced Levels.
On the Delhi–Birmingham route, the airline continues to operate two weekly flights, down from its previous frequency of three.
The Delhi–Copenhagen route continues at three flights per week, down from five.
Delhi–Vienna also remains at three weekly flights, reduced from four.
The Delhi–Washington Dulles service continues to operate three times a week, down from five. Similarly,
Flights between Delhi and San Francisco remain reduced, operating seven times a week, down from the earlier 10-weekly schedule.
The Delhi–Toronto route also continues to run daily, down from 13 flights a week.
Service to Vancouver from Delhi is currently running four times weekly, a reduction from its previous daily schedule.
In Australia, Delhi–Melbourne and Delhi–Sydney routes both remain cut back to five flights a week, down from daily service. No frequency increases are currently scheduled.
Air India recently reinstated its Delhi–Nairobi service, operating three times a week through August 31. However, this route will again be suspended for the month of September.
Operations That Remain Suspended
Some routes are still suspended entirely, such as Amritsar–London Gatwick, Goa (Mopa)–London Gatwick, Bengaluru–Singapore, and Pune–Singapore, with no service planned until at least October.
On June 12, Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad en route to London Gatwick. Of the 242 passengers on board, only one survived.
On Saturday, India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) in a preliminary report said an unexplained fuel supply cutoff caused both engines of Air India Flight AI171 to shut down seconds after takeoff.
Following the accident, the Indian aviation regulator DGCA ordered detailed inspections across Air India's 787 fleet.
In addition to the safety reviews, the airline also faced complications from restricted airspace over Pakistan and the Middle East, and night flying limits in parts of Europe and East Asia. The combination of longer detour routes and fewer available aircraft made it difficult to maintain its usual schedule.
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