Air India cuts narrowbody flights by 5%, suspends 3 routes until mid-July
Air India said it is proactively contacting affected passengers to offer re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds as per their preferences
New Delhi: After reducing 15% of its flights operating using widebody aircraft, Air India on Sunday announced temporary cuts of around 5% of its overall narrowbody network.
“This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of Air India’s services on three routes and reduction of frequency on 19 routes. The changes are effective until at least 15 July 2025. These reductions are aimed at strengthening Air India’s network-wide operational stability and minimising last-minute inconvenience to passengers,” a statement issued by the airline said.
“Despite these temporary reductions, Air India will continue to operate close to 600 daily flights with its narrowbody aircraft on 120 domestic and short-haul international routes,” it added.
As a result of this, Bengaluru-Singapore seven days weekly flights AI2392 and AI 2393, Pune-Singapore flight operated daily as AI 2111 and AI 2110 and Mumbai-Bagdogra daily flight operated as AI 551 and AI 552, have been suspended until July 15.
Other routes will see fewer flights during this period. These include; flights between Bengaluru and Chandigarh will be reduced by half, from 14 to 7 weekly, between Delhi and several cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Goa (both Dabolim and Mopa airports), Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, and Pune will also have fewer weekly flights. Similarly, flights from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Kochi, Goa, Hyderabad, and Varanasi will operate less frequently.
Flights from Delhi with reduced frequency: Bengaluru: reduced from 116 to 113 flights weekly, Mumbai: reduced from 176 to 165 flights weekly, Kolkata: reduced from 70 to 63 flights weekly, Coimbatore: reduced from 13 to 12 flights weekly, Goa (Dabolim): reduced from 14 to 7 flights weekly, Goa (Mopa): reduced from 14 to 7 flights weekly, Hyderabad: reduced from 84 to 76 flights weekly, Indore: reduced from 21 to 14 flights weekly, Lucknow: reduced from 28 to 21 flights weekly and Pune: reduced from 59 to 54 flights weekly.
Flights from Mumbai with reduced frequency include; Ahmedabad: reduced from 41 to 37 flights weekly, Bengaluru: reduced from 91 to 84 flights weekly, Kolkata: reduced from 42 to 30 flights weekly, Coimbatore: reduced from 21 to 16 flights weekly, Kochi: reduced from 40 to 34 flights weekly, Goa (Dabolim): reduced from 34 to 29 flights weekly, Hyderabad: reduced from 63 to 59 flights weekly and Varanasi: reduced from 12 to 7 flights weekly
“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 preferences,” the airline spokesperson said.
“The revised schedule is being progressively made available on our website, airindia.com, mobile app and through our contact centre. We remain committed to restoring our full schedule as soon as practicable, while at all times prioritising the safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft,” the spokesperson added.
This comes after the airline, on Thursday, announced it will reduce 38 international flights per week and temporarily suspend operations on three overseas routes from June 21 to July 15, 2025.
Talking about the status of operations to the Gulf region, among geopolitical tension, the airline in a statement said, “Amid escalating tensions in the Gulf region, Air India group confirms that our flights currently do not operate over the airspaces of Iran, Iraq and Israel. As a proactive measure, we will be progressively avoiding the use of certain airspace over the Persian Gulf in the coming days, opting instead for alternative paths for flights to destinations including the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.”
This adjustment, it said, may lead to extended flight durations for these services, as well as for select flights to/from Europe and North America.
“Air India is in continuous consultation with our external security advisors and is vigilantly monitoring the evolving situation, ready to implement additional measures, if required, to uphold the safety and integrity of our operations. We will keep our passengers informed of any updates. The safety and security of our passengers, staff, and aircraft remain our number one priority,” the spokesperson said.
Air India and Air India Express together operate more than 1,100 flights a day, flying over 150,000 passengers.
Air India has voluntarily undertaken enhanced pre-flight safety checks and temporary reduction of services to uphold its commitment to safe operations after one of its B787 plane crashed moments after take off on June 12. The airline said that the temporary reduction of services, will improve stability and will minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers.
Separately, AI114 from Birmingham to Delhi on June 21 received a bomb threat and was consequently diverted to Riyadh where it landed safely. The threat note was found in one of the washrooms of the aircraft, officials said.
The airline said that all passengers were deplaned and were provided hotel accommodation. “Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destinations,” it said.
The airline, however, did not give details on the flight’s revised time.
