Flights remain affected by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which prompted a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February.
With hostilities showing no signs of abating, the region’s leading airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, initially announced flight suspensions but are slowly resuming operations.
Dubai Airport, one of the main aviation hubs in the region, experienced a temporary suspension of operations last week, with operations slowly resuming on March 7.
Domestic carriers such as Air India, Akasa Air, IndiGo and SpiceJet, which experienced disruptions in the early days of the conflict, have also started resuming limited operations, particularly on repatriation flights.
But flight traffic in the Middle East remains far from normal, with Indian carriers canceling 279 international flights on Sunday. However, repatriation flights continue, Indian carriers dispatched a total of 49 such flights on Sunday.
Thousands of Indians are returning home
Passenger movement data on March 7 showed that 51 flights operated by Indian carriers arrived in India from the region carrying 8,175 passengers, the civil aviation ministry said.
What to expect on Monday?
Air India and Air India express are scheduled to operate a total of 24 scheduled flights to Jeddah and Muscat on Monday, besides operating 32 ad-hoc flights from multiple locations in the UAE “subject to slot availability, regulatory approvals and operational conditions”.
Air India also said that to support passengers amid the current situation in West Asia, the carrier will operate 78 additional flights on nine routes between March 10 and 18.
Meanwhile, SpiceJet is scheduled to operate at least three flights from Dubai and Fujairah to India on Monday.
While other domestic carriers are yet to disclose their schedule for Monday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said that Indian carriers are expected to operate 50 flights on Monday.
However, it should be noted that the situation in the Middle East is volatile and schedules may change at the last minute.
Follow LIVE updates of air traffic in the Middle East here as the day progresses.
