Air India and Air India Express will operate 44 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the West Asia region on Tuesday. Both airlines will maintain their scheduled flights to Muscat and Jeddah.
Air India will operate its regular return flights between Delhi and Jeddah along with two flights from Mumbai, while Air India Express will continue its regular services to and from Kozhikode. Air India Express will also operate its usual flights to and from Muscat, including services from Delhi, Kochi (two flights), Kozhikode, Mangalore, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli.
In addition to these scheduled flights, Air India and Air India Express plan to operate a total of 24 non-scheduled flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, subject to slot availability and prevailing conditions at the departure locations.
“These flights are operated with the required permissions from the relevant Indian and local regulatory authorities,” Air India said.
Amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Dubai Airport has imposed restrictions on flights operated by foreign carriers, prompting IndiGo, Air India Group and SpiceJet to suspend their services to the emirate.
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Meanwhile, Iran launched new attacks across the Persian Gulf, disrupting supplies at a key UAE oil hub.
Overnight on Monday, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia reported numerous drone and missile attacks. Dubai temporarily suspended flights at its main airport, with some Emirates departures canceled after a fuel tank fire allegedly caused by an Iranian drone.
After a strike on Saturday that temporarily halted some shipments, the UAE’s Fujairah oil export terminal was targeted again on Monday. At the same time, Israel carried out further airstrikes on infrastructure in Tehran after a series of rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
The ongoing attacks suggest that the fighting, which began with the US-Israeli bombing of Iran on February 28, shows no sign of abating.
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Trump Says ‘Iran Wants a Deal’; Araghchi denies
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for about one-fifth of the world’s oil, remains effectively closed, causing a global energy disruption estimated by Morgan Stanley to be twice the impact of the 1956 Suez Crisis.
US President Donald Trump has for the first time called on other world powers, including France, the UK, Japan and China, to help the US reopen the strait by sending warships to escort merchant vessels, although none of these countries have yet agreed to participate.
“Iran wants to make a deal and I don’t want to make one because the conditions are not good enough yet,” he mentioned.
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However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refuted claims that Tehran was seeking talks or a truce with the US.
During a media briefing, Araghchi mentioned: “The reason we say we don’t want a ceasefire is not because we are seeking war, but because this time this war must end so that our enemies never think of repeating these attacks. I think they have already learned their lesson and understand what kind of nation they are dealing with.”
