NEW DELHI: Air India has temporarily suspended its Amritsar-London (Gatwick) and Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) routes until July 15, 2025, as part of a wider reduction in international flights operated by its Boeing 787 and 777 fleet. The airline has also paused its Delhi-Nairobi route until June 30, aligning with this strategic adjustment.
Air India has reduced frequency of its flights from Delhi to Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington. Further, it has cut back on key European destinations from Delhi, Bengaluru and Amritsar. Flights to Tokyo, Seoul and Australia have also been impacted.
“These reductions will be effective from June 21, 2025, and last until at least July 15, 2025. The reductions arise from the decision to voluntary undertake enhanced pre-flight safety checks, as well as accommodate additional flight durations arising from airspace closures in the Middle East. The objective is to restore schedule stability and minimizing last-minute inconvenience to passengers,” the airline said in a statement.
Air India said on Wednesday that it has decided to reduce its international services on widebody aircraft by 15% for the next few weeks.
The airline stated that due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, night curfews in the airspace of several European and East Asian countries, ongoing enhanced safety inspections, and a cautious operational approach adopted by engineering staff and pilots, its international operations have faced disruptions over the past six days—leading to a total of 83 cancellations.
Earlier in the day, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson, in a message to flyers said that as a confidence-building measure, the airline has elected to continue enhanced pre-flight safety checks on its Boeing 787 fleet and, as an added measure, its Boeing 777 aircraft for the time being.
The action by the Tata Group-owned company comes a week after an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner (flight Al171) bound for London, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport on Thursday. Only one person survived the crash.
Meanwhile, the government on Thursday said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau will decide on the location of decoding the black box of flight Al171.
A multi-disciplinary team from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has commenced an investigation into the accident.
CEO Wilson has said the the crashed Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was "well-maintained" and had undergone a major check in June 2023 with the next scheduled for December this year.
