Air India to reduce 38 international flights per week, announces routes to be affected

On Thursday (June 19), Indian carrier Air India announced to reduce 38 international flights per week and has additionally suspended three overseas destinations. Sixteen international routes will be affected between June 21 and July 15. This decision comes after the crash of the ill-fated Air India flight AI-171 on June 12 that claimed several lives of those on board and around the incident site in the western Indian state of Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

The airlines’ objective is to minimise last-minute inconvenience to flyers as many flights were cancelled and delayed following the crash. Earlier, Air India issued a notice informing temporary reduction in the operations of wide-body aircraft by 15%.

In their statement, Air India, mentioned, "These reductions will be effective from June 21, 2025, and last until at least 15 July 2025.”

It added, “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.”

Routed to be affected:

Delhi-Nairobi, Amritsar-London (Gatwick) and Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) to be suspended until July 15.

Delhi-Nairobi route has listed four flights per week, Amritsar-London (Gatwick) and Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) routes have three flights a week, as per the airline.
16 international connecting routes in North America, Europe, Australia and the Far East will also be reduced.

A reduction in flight frequency will be seen in North America, particularly Delhi-Toronto, Delhi-Vancouver, Delhi-San Francisco, Delhi-Chicago and Delhi-Washington.

A week after the crash, Air India CEO and Managing Director, Campbell Wilson, said, "The plane was well-maintained, with its last major check in June 2023 and the next scheduled for December 2025. Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight.”

He added, “As a confidence-building measure, we have elected to continue enhanced pre-flight safety checks on our Boeing 787 fleet and, as an added measure, our Boeing 777 aircraft, for the time being.”

A week post the horrific accident, the cause of which is yet to be ascertained, the black box has been recovered, and actual findings will come to light only after a thorough investigation tracing the last moment of the flight.