Air India on Sunday announced that it will deploy additional capacity to five key gateways in Europe as well as New York (JFK)1 over the next few days, supported by additional services to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in response to continued high demand for reliable travel options amid the ongoing situation in West Asia.
According to an official statement, Air India will operate 78 additional flights on the following routes between March 10 and 18, 2026, boosting much-needed capacity when passenger travel options remain limited: Delhi-New York (JFK)1, Delhi-London (Heathrow), Mumbai-London (Heathrow), Gfurt, Delhi-Fhurt Delhi-Amsterdam, Delhi-Zurich, Delhi-Male and Delhi-Colombo.
Together, these flights add up to 17,660 seats on nine routes in both directions. Other flights on European routes will be operated with B787-8s and flights to Male and Colombo will be operated with A320neo aircraft. The flights to New York (JFK) are subject to required regulatory approvals and will be operated with Air India’s B777-300ER aircraft.
‘Maintain your scheduled services…’
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said: “Despite the exact assumptions, Air India continues to maintain its scheduled flights to Europe and North America and maintains connectivity to several international gateways using alternative routes that are assessed as safe to operate. We are confident that passengers who need to travel to destinations in these regions will appreciate the additional options and reliability with Air India.”
Air India and Air India Express announced earlier today that they are continuing scheduled flights to select West Asian destinations while operating additional non-scheduled flights to help stranded passengers amid ongoing airspace restrictions in parts of the region.
According to a press release, the airspace over Saudi Arabia and Oman remains open, allowing the airline to maintain regular flights to and from Jeddah and Muscat.
According to the release, Air India operates regular flights connecting Delhi and Mumbai with Jeddah. Meanwhile, Air India Express continues to operate flights connecting Muscat to Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Kannur, along with services connecting Jeddah to Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Mangaluru.
Airlines have also announced additional unscheduled flights on March 8 with the approval of Indian and local authorities to facilitate passengers affected by regional restrictions. Air India will operate special flights between Delhi and Dubai and between Mumbai and Dubai. Air India Express will operate an additional 30 flights connecting Indian cities with several destinations in the UAE, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah.
According to the press release, these additional flights are primarily intended for stranded passengers, with priority given to passengers who already have reservations with one of the airlines.
Air India Express also confirmed that all its scheduled flights to and from Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Kuwait and Riyadh remain canceled until March 13 due to ongoing restrictions. Air India’s scheduled flights to and from Dammam, Doha and Riyadh will remain suspended until March 10.
