Air India And IndiGo Announce Special Flights To Middle East Amid Rising Tensions

New Delhi: What happened in the last few days was no less than a shock. Following the joint attacks on Iran by the US and Israel, the airspace across West Asia was suddenly closed. IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express—all three canceled all flights in the region with immediate effect. A total of 1,117 flights have been canceled since February 28, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in the Gulf countries. 

Has Air India started any special flights?

As some airspace reopened, Air India and Air India Express started around 50 special flights to bring back stranded Indians from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah, Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah.  Along with this, Air India has also announced the start of 78 additional flights to New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam and Zurich between March 10 and March 18, which will have 17,660 additional seats.

For which cities are the flights being operated?

Air India's special flights are operating from Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi and Bengaluru to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah, Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah. Air India Express has resumed flights from Muscat to Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli. However, flights to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE are still halted. 

Has IndiGo also planned new flights?

IndiGo has started 10 special flights to Jeddah from Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. This work is being done in collaboration with Jeddah Consulate of India. But on the other hand, IndiGo also had to cancel 144 international flights due to airspace restrictions on March 7, which shows that the crisis is not completely over yet.

What does the government say?

The Civil Aviation Ministry said that special arrangements are being made for the convenience of stranded passengers. Indian airlines are gradually resuming flights through alternative routes. Foreign airlines Emirates and Etihad also operated 9 flights from the Gulf in the last 24 hours.

Have arrangements for alternative routes also been made?

Airlines are taking major detours to avoid restricted airspace. IndiGo launches a Mumbai-London flight over Africa, increasing flight time to ten and a half hours. Indian airlines cannot use the Pakistan-Afghanistan short route as Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines since Operation Sindoor.

Has the number of travelers visiting India increased recently?

West Asia accounts for the largest share of India's international air traffic. Last year, 1.49 crore passengers traveled through this region.  Amidst the increasing tension, the government has given clear instructions to the airlines that stranded passengers should not face any problem in refunds and rescheduling. Thousands of Indian migrants are trying to return home as soon as possible.