Passengers meet their family members at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on March 4, 2026, as they arrive safely from a flight via Dubai amid international tensions in the Gulf region. Photo credit: ANI
Around 180 flights from three metro airports, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, were canceled on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) due to airspace restrictions amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, sources said.
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While 93 flights including 48 departures and 45 arrivals were canceled at the Mumbai airport, 52 flights including 25 departures and 27 arrivals were canceled at the Delhi airport on Wednesday (March 4, 2025).
Various airlines operating at the Bengaluru airport did not operate 34 flights, including 18 arrivals, sources said.
Sources said the Mumbai airport handled eight repatriation flights operated by domestic and international airlines on Wednesday (March 4, 2026). While SpiceJet operated two repatriated flights to Mumbai from Fujairah, Air India operated a flight to the city from Dubai. Gulf airline Emirates operated three such flights from Dubai to Mumbai, while Gulf Air and Royal Jordanian operated one each to the financial capital from Amman, Jordan, and Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday (March 2, 2026) announced that 1,221 flights of Indian carriers and 388 flights of foreign carriers have been canceled (till March 3) due to the ongoing situation.
According to the ministry’s website, the number of international flight departures from India was 356, with 338 international flights landing at various international airports in the country on March 3.
At least five inbound and outbound flights to and from West Asia were canceled at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) till 1:30 pm, officials said. Affected routes included key cities such as Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Among the canceled arrivals were Qatar Airways flight QR050 from Doha and Emirates flight EK570. Three outbound flights were cancelled: Air Arabia flight 3L0167 to Abu Dhabi, Qatar Airways flight QR0541 to Doha and Emirates flight EK571 to Dubai.
IndiGo on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) announced that it has canceled more than 500 flights to West Asia and select international destinations from February 28 to March 3 due to evolving airspace restrictions.
Special flights
Meanwhile, Air India on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) announced the deployment of additional flights to Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to meet high demand amid the crises. Air India Express’ low-cost subsidiary Air India Express has announced that its flight services to Muscat will remain operational, apart from introducing additional flights between Muscat and Delhi and Mumbai.
The airline will operate three additional flights between Delhi and Toronto from March 5 to 11, besides adding three flights between Delhi and Frankfurt and one flight between Delhi and Paris (Charles de Gaulle) from March 7 to 10, Air India said.
Meanwhile, Air India Express said in a post on X that it will continue to operate flights to and from Muscat on March 5 along with additional flights between Muscat and Delhi and Mumbai. “We are also operating special flights from Ras Al Khaimah connecting Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai till March 7,” Air India Express said.
Another domestic carrier Akasa Air said it will operate a total of five flights connecting Abu Dhabi and Jeddah to Mumbai and Ahmedabad on Wednesday (March 4, 2026).
The airline said it will operate flights from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai and one each from Mumbai and Ahmedabad to Jeddah, as well as their return flights, but services to Doha, Kuwait and Riyadh will remain suspended until May 5.
“Following a comprehensive security review and based on the current assessment of the situation, we are resuming selected flights to/from selected destinations in the Middle East,” Akasa Air said in a statement on Wednesday (March 4, 2026).
(With inputs from ANI)
Published – March 4, 2026 10:27 PM IST
