Air India has stopped flight operations to Europe and five destinations in the US and Canada amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Besides, flights of Air India Express and IndiGo to the Middle East have been impacted, and some of them have been diverted.
With Iran launching a missile attack on a US airbase in Qatar, tensions have mounted in the region, and a few countries, including Qatar, have closed their airspace. Air India's long-haul flights to Europe and North America overfly the Middle East, and the airspace curbs have disrupted its services.
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Amid the developing situation in the Middle East, Air India said it has ceased all operations to the region, as well as to and from the East Coast of North America and Europe, with immediate effect until further notice. Services have been temporarily stopped to European cities, as well as to four US airports—New York, Newark, Chicago, and Washington—and to Toronto (Canada).
"Our India-bound flights from North America are diverting back to their respective origins, and others are being diverted back to India or rerouted away from the closed airspaces," the airline said in a statement. The airline said it is in continuous consultation with its external security advisers and is vigilantly monitoring the evolving situation. "We request the understanding of all passengers who may be affected by this disruption that's beyond an airline's control," the carrier said. Air India Express diverted two Doha-bound flights due to the closure of Qatar airspace.
"As a result of the ongoing situation in the Middle East and suspension of Qatar airspace, Air India Express has diverted our Doha-bound flight from Kochi to Muscat and returned our flight bound from Kannur," the airline said in a statement.
In a post on X, IndiGo said that in light of the recent developments in the Middle East, flight arrivals and departures from Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Dammam, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Ras AI-Khaimah and Tbilisi are impacted. The airline also said it is actively monitoring the situation and adjusting operations to ensure the highest level of safety.
SpiceJet, in a post on X, said that due to Dubai's airspace closure, all departures and arrivals, and their consequential flights, might be affected.
Air India Express operates 25 weekly flights to Qatar's capital, Doha. It has direct services to Doha from Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Tiruchchirappalli. The carrier also has eight one-stop destinations from Doha: Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune.