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Air India to partially resume international flights from August 1
The announcement comes days after India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the 12 June crash. The report revealed that both engine fuel switches on the Air India Boeing 787 had moved from RUN to CUTOFF seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad, causing a loss of thrust and the subsequent crash. The tragedy killed 241 people on board and 19 on the ground. The cause of the mid-air switch movement remains undetermined.
'Air India today announced the partial restoration of schedules that were reduced pursuant to its 'Safety Pause', taken following the tragic accident of AI171 on 12th June 2025,' the airline said in a statement issued Tuesday evening.
'That Pause enabled Air India to perform additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft as well as accommodating longer flying times arising from airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middle East,' it noted.
The first phase of the restoration will begin on 1 August and continue through September. During this period, a new route will be introduced: a thrice-weekly flight between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow, replacing the current five-times-weekly Ahmedabad–London Gatwick service.
The airline will also reinstate flights on several curtailed routes. From 16 July, all 24 weekly flights between Delhi and London Heathrow will operate as scheduled. Starting 1 August, Delhi–Zurich will increase from four to five weekly flights, while Delhi–Tokyo Haneda will resume its full seven-weekly schedule. Delhi–Seoul Incheon will return to five weekly flights from 1 September.
However, some routes will continue with reductions. From 1 August, Bengaluru–London Heathrow will drop from six to four weekly flights. Delhi–Paris will be cut from 12 to seven weekly flights and Delhi–Milan from four to three from 16 July.
Other European routes like Delhi–Copenhagen, Delhi–Vienna and Delhi–Amsterdam will remain below full frequency until September, with Amsterdam scheduled to return to daily service on 1 August.
In North America, multiple routes will operate fewer weekly flights through September. Delhi–Washington remains at three weekly flights, while Delhi–Chicago will operate three weekly in July and four weekly in August. Delhi–San Francisco, Delhi–Toronto, Delhi–Vancouver and Delhi–New York (JFK and Newark) will also continue at reduced frequencies. Mumbai–New York JFK will drop to six weekly flights from 1 August.
Flights to Australia are similarly affected. Both Delhi–Melbourne and Delhi–Sydney remain reduced to five times weekly. In Africa, Delhi–Nairobi has resumed service at three weekly flights until 31 August but will be suspended for the entire month of September.
Air India confirmed that four routes will remain suspended until 30 September: Amritsar–London Gatwick, Goa (Mopa)–London Gatwick, Bengaluru–Singapore and Pune–Singapore.
'As the schedule reductions taken as part of the Safety Pause had been implemented until 31 July and the restoration to full operation is being phased, some services initially planned to operate between 1 August and 30 September will be removed from the schedule,' the airline stated.
'Air India is proactively contacting affected passengers to offer re-booking on alternative flights or a full refund, as per their preference,' it added.
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