NEW DELHI: Air India has cancelled at least three US-bound flights and warned of delays on some Europe services following the closure of Iranian airspace, airline sources said on Thursday.
The abrupt four-hour closure of Iranian airspace on Thursday, amid volatile internal conditions in the country and heightened tensions with the United States, triggered a ripple effect across airline operations from India to the US and Europe. Iran has since reopened its airspace.
Air India cancelled three of its US-bound flights on Thursday morning, with two of them recalled midair. The cancelled services were New Delhi–New York (AI101), New Delhi–Newark (AI105) and Mumbai–New York (AI119).
A source said, “The flight from Delhi to Newark was just taxiing when news of the airspace closure came in. The flight was recalled immediately. The plane from Delhi to New York had not entered the airspace in the Gulf region and we recalled it before that, while the flight from Mumbai to New York was within Indian airspace only when we decided to bring it back.”
Flights to the US are long-haul services with significantly longer durations, the source said. “They were already flying over Iran due to the Pakistan airspace closure, and now they will have to fly over Iraq. They will need additional fuel and so we decided to cancel their trip. The flights to Europe are comparatively shorter and we are routing them via Iraq.”
In a statement on X, the airline said international flights that were supposed to pass through the region would be delayed. “Air India flights overflying the region are now using an alternative routing, which may lead to delays. Some Air India flights where currently rerouting is not possible are being cancelled.”
A source at IndiGo said, “The airline is routing all its flights to Europe via Saudi Arabia and the journey could take longer.” IndiGo does not operate flights to the US. “Our flights to Almaty and Baku may get cancelled. We are still deciding on it.”
In a post on X, IndiGo said, “Due to the sudden airspace closure by Iran, some of our international flights are impacted. This development is beyond our control, and we regret the disruption it may have caused to your travel plans.”
“If your flight is impacted, we encourage you to visit our website to explore flexible rebooking options or to claim a refund, as per your preference,” it added.
SpiceJet said its flights to and from Dubai were delayed as Iran-bound traffic had shifted to neighbouring airspace.
Air India Express (AIX), which operates the maximum number of flights from India to the Middle East, was among the worst affected. “It suffered major delays and cancellations as their operations are concentrated in the Gulf region, very close to Iran,” said a source.
AIX refused to share details on the impact on its flights despite multiple calls and messages.
