Air India is partially restoring its international flight schedule, which had been curtailed under a 'safety pause' following the tragic accident involving AI171 on June 12. The partial resumption will see restoration of some frequencies from August 1, relative to July, with full restoration planned from October 1.
The Tata Group airline’s decision to restore its international flights comes days after India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) published its preliminary report on the fatal Air India plane crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad on June 12.
The report, released late Saturday night, stated that both engine fuel switches had moved to the "cutoff" position seconds after takeoff, leading to a loss of thrust and the eventual crash.
Air India said on Tuesday that the safety pause enabled them to perform additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft as well as accommodate longer flying times arising from airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middle East.
From August 1 to September 30, Air India will operate 3x weekly flights between Ahmedabad and London (Heathrow), replacing the previously operating 5x weekly flights between Ahmedabad and London (Gatwick). Air India also reinstated two weekly Delhi-London (Heathrow) flights previously curtailed, with all 24x weekly flights operating from July 16. The Delhi-Zurich flight has been increased from 4x weekly to 5x weekly, effective August 1.
Further, Air India reinstated two weekly Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda) flights previously curtailed, with all 7x weekly flights operating from August 1. The carrier also reinstated two weekly Delhi-Seoul (Incheon) flights previously curtailed, with all 5x weekly flights reinstated from September 1.
However, many routes will operate with a lower frequency until September 30. There are also four routes which will remain suspended till September 30.
“As the schedule reductions taken as part of the Safety Pause had been implemented until 31 July 2025 and the restoration to full operation is being phased, some services initially planned to operate between 1 August and 30 September 2025 will be removed from the schedule,” said Air India. With the partial restoration, Air India operates more than 525 international flights per week on 63 short, long and ultra long-haul routes.
Routes with continued reductions/changed frequency until September 30
Europe
• Bengaluru-London (Heathrow): Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly; will further reduce to 4x weekly, effective 01 August 2025
• Amritsar-Birmingham: Remains reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly until 31 August; to operate 3x weekly, effective 01 September
• Delhi-Birmingham: Remains reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly
• Delhi-Paris: Reduced from 12x weekly to 7x weekly, effective 01 August
• Delhi-Milan: Reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly, effective 16 July
• Delhi-Copenhagen: Remains reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly
• Delhi-Vienna: Remains reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly
• Delhi-Amsterdam: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly; to resume 7x weekly, effective 01 August
North America
• Delhi-Washington (Dulles): Remains reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly
• Delhi-Chicago: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 3x weekly (to operate 4x weekly in August)
• Delhi-San Francisco: Remains reduced from 10x weekly to 7x weekly
• Delhi-Toronto: Remains reduced from 13x weekly to 7x weekly
• Delhi-Vancouver: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 4x weekly
• Delhi-New York (JFK): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly, effective 16 July
• Mumbai-New York (JFK): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly, effective 01 August
• Delhi-New York (Newark Liberty): Reduced from 5x weekly to 4x weekly, effective 16 July
Australia
• Delhi-Melbourne: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly
• Delhi-Sydney: Remains reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly
Africa
• Delhi-Nairobi: Reinstated services, operating 3x weekly until 31 August; to be suspended from 01-30 September
Continued temporary suspension of routes until September 30
• Amritsar-London (Gatwick) (AI169/170): 3x weekly flights
• Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) (AI145/146): 3x weekly flights
• Bengaluru-Singapore (AI2392/2393): 7x weekly flights
• Pune-Singapore (AI2111/2110): 5x weekly flights