Air India Group avoids Iran, Iraq, Israel airspace; AI Express cancels some flights

New Delhi/Mumbai: Air India Group is avoiding certain airspace in the Middle East, resulting in longer flight durations while Air India Express is cancelling some services due to the evolving situation, according to sources.

The group has two airlines -- Air India and Air India Express -- and the latter operates a significant chunk of the services to the Middle East with narrow-body planes.

"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," Air India said in a statement on Sunday.

As per the statement, the adjustment may lead to extended flight durations for these services as well as for select flights to/from Europe and North America.

One of the sources said Air India Express decided to cancel some flights connecting cities in the Middle East due to lower load factors.

Lower load factor implies less booking for a particular flight.

According to some travel industry bodies, ticket bookings for Air India flights have seen a drop of up to 20 per cent on international as well as domestic routes, while average fares have declined 8-15 per cent as a result of the plane crash in Ahmedabad.

An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed on June 12, seconds after takeoff, killing over 270 people onboard and on the ground.

The second source said services are being cancelled on account of the escalating tensions in the Middle East as well as airspace congestion. Passengers are being informed in advance about the cancellations, the source added.

There was no official comments from Air India Express on the flight cancellations.

Air India operates flights to Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, and Jeddah in the Gulf region.

Meanwhile, in the statement, Air India also said it is in continuous consultation with its 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.