Mumbai: Air India on Thursday released a detailed plan for temporarily reducing its international wide-body operations. This follows the airline’s announcement a day earlier that it would scale back long-haul flights operated by Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft by 15% until at least mid-July.

The Tata Group-owned airline has now disclosed specific details, which include the suspension of services on three routes and reduced flight frequencies on 18 others.

In an official statement, the company said, “These reductions will be effective from 21 June 2025, and last until at least 15 July 2025. The reductions arise from the decision to voluntarily 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 minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers.”

Details of the affected flights are as follows:

1. Routes suspended until 15 July 2025:

• • Delhi–Nairobi (AI961/962) – 4x weekly flights*

• • Amritsar–London (Gatwick) (AI169/170) – 3x weekly flights

• • Goa (Mopa)–London (Gatwick) (AI145/146) – 3x weekly flights

2. Routes with reduced frequency until 15 July 2025:

North America

• • Delhi–Toronto: Reduced from 13x weekly to 7x weekly

• • Delhi–Vancouver: Reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly

• • Delhi–San Francisco: Reduced from 10x weekly to 7x weekly

• • Delhi–Chicago: Reduced from 7x weekly to 3x weekly

• • Delhi–Washington (Dulles): Reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly

Europe

• • Delhi–London (Heathrow): Reduced from 24x weekly to 22x weekly

• • Bengaluru–London (Heathrow): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly

• • Amritsar–Birmingham and Delhi–Birmingham: Reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly

• • Delhi–Paris: Reduced from 14x weekly to 12x weekly

• • Delhi–Milan: Reduced from 7x weekly to 4x weekly

• • Delhi–Copenhagen: Reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly

• • Delhi–Vienna: Reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly

• • Delhi–Amsterdam: Reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly

Australia

• • Delhi–Melbourne and Delhi–Sydney: Reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly

Far East

• • Delhi–Tokyo (Haneda): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly

• • Delhi–Seoul (Incheon): Reduced from 5x weekly to 4x weekly**

*Suspended until 30 June.
**To operate 3x weekly from 21 June to 5 July, and 4x weekly from 6 July to 15 July.

Apologising for the inconvenience to passengers, the airline said, “Air India apologises to the passengers affected by these curtailments, and is proactively contacting affected passengers to offer re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds as per their preference.”

The company also stated that it is committed to restoring its full schedule as soon as practicable, while at all times prioritising the safety of its passengers, crew, and aircraft.

Notably, after the tragic crash on June 12th involving an Air India Boeing 787 that left over 270 dead, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) instructed the airline to carry out additional maintenance checks on its entire fleet of 33 Dreamliners. On Wednesday, the airline stated that 26 of its Boeing 787s have now undergone the mandated inspections and have been cleared for operations. A day earlier, the DGCA reported that its surveillance had not revealed any major safety issues with the Dreamliner fleet and confirmed that both the aircraft and their maintenance systems comply with existing safety standards. DeshGujarat