NEW DELHI — Air India will cancel about 400 international flights a month from June through August on routes including Dhaka, Europe, North America and Asia, as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East drives up jet fuel prices and squeezes India’s aviation sector, NDTV Online reported.
India’s state-owned carrier announced the cuts Thursday, May 14, saying it had made the rational adjustment in advance rather than risk last-minute cancellations that would inconvenience passengers.
Under the new schedule, direct flights on the Mumbai-Dhaka route have been suspended entirely for now, Air India said. Weekly flights from Delhi to Dhaka, Kathmandu, Colombo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore have been reduced.
The airline said the step was taken to maintain network stability and reduce last-minute disruption to passengers. Even with the cuts, Air India will still operate more than 1,200 international flights a month, it said.
On North American routes, the Delhi-Chicago flight has been suspended temporarily, the carrier said. Delhi-San Francisco flights have been cut from 10 a week to seven. Delhi-Toronto will drop from 10 to five weekly flights through July before returning to daily service in August.
The Delhi-Vancouver route has been reduced from seven to five weekly flights. On European routes, Delhi-Paris flights have been cut from 14 a week to seven.
Flights to Copenhagen, Milan, Vienna, Zurich and Rome have also been trimmed. In Australia, Delhi-Melbourne and Delhi-Sydney will move from daily to four flights a week. The Delhi-Shanghai and Chennai-Singapore flights have been suspended temporarily, and flights to Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Dhaka have been cut significantly.
NDTV reported that Air India’s Delhi-Kathmandu service will drop from 42 weekly flights to 21 in July and August. The carrier has also temporarily suspended its Delhi-Male route.
Affected passengers can rebook on alternative flights, change travel dates free of charge or receive a full refund, the airline said. Air India’s 24-hour contact center and digital services will remain available.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report