Air India will cancel about 400 international flights a month between June and August, cutting or suspending services across North America, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia, as rising jet fuel prices due to conflict in West Asia and airspace restrictions put pressure on the commercial viability of long-haul operations.
The announcement comes days after the Indian Airlines Association – which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet – wrote a letter to the government on April 26 warning that the industry is under “severe pressure” and on the “brink of halting operations” due to rising aviation turbine fuel costs.
Air India said it will help affected passengers to rebook on alternative flights, change the date for free or receive a full refund.
The main discounts relate to flights to North American cities. Flights between Delhi and Chicago have been suspended. Flights between Delhi and San Francisco have been reduced from 10 weekly flights to seven until the end of August. Delhi-Toronto flights were halved from 10 to five weekly flights until July, then returned to daily service in August. Delhi-Vancouver flights have been reduced from seven to five weekly flights.
Mumbai-Newark flights are increasing from three weekly flights to daily service. Delhi-JFK remains on seven weekly flights. Delhi-Newark and Mumbai-JFK flights have been suspended.
For European destinations, flights between Delhi and Paris have been halved from 14 weekly flights to seven. Delhi-Copenhagen, Delhi-Vienna, Delhi-Zurich and Delhi-Rome flights have been reduced by one flight per week, from four to three flights. Delhi-Milan flights have been reduced from five to four weekly flights.
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Both Delhi-Melbourne and Delhi-Sydney have been cut from daily service to four flights per week.
Likewise, Delhi-Shanghai, Chennai-Singapore, Mumbai-Dhaka and Delhi-Male flights have been suspended until the end of August.
Flights between Delhi and Singapore have been reduced by almost half from 24 to 14 weekly flights.
The Mumbai-Singapore ranking has been demoted from 14th to 7th. Flights between Delhi and Bangkok will decrease from 28 to 21 flights per week, and Mumbai-Bangkok from 13 to seven flights, both starting in July. Delhi-Kuala Lumpur flights have been halved from 10 to five weekly flights. Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City drops from 7 to 4 in July and August. Delhi-Hanoi drops from five to four in July and August.
Air India said it is working with regulators and airport authorities to restore full capacity when conditions allow, but warned of further adjustments if the operating environment does not improve.
