- विज्ञापन -
Mumbai: Following the tragic air India crash in Ahmedabad, the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines-owned carrier, initially announced the cut of 15 per cent of its International widebody schedule and has now decided to trim its domestic schedule by 5 per cent until mid-July.
It should be noted that the domestic flights of Air India are operated largely by its narrowbody fleet comprising Airbus A320 family, both “ceo” and “neo”, with over 60 of those coming in from the merger with Vistara.
Air India recently gave reasons for international cancellations, citing additional checks ordered by the regulator and extended flying hours due to the crisis in West Asia, the domestic flights are immune to airspace closures and the regulator has not ordered any additional checks on the narrowbody fleet.
Air India Cancellations: Key routes affected
Air India on Sunday said it will temporarily reduce 118 weekly flights operated with narrow-body planes on 19 routes as well as suspend services on three routes.
All the 19 routes where reduction in narrow-body services have been done are domestic and of the three routes where flights have been suspended, two are international and one is domestic.
Air India to cut international flights
The announcement comes days after the Tata Group-owned carrier said it will cut international flights operated with wide-body planes by 15 per cent temporarily.
In a statement, the airline said it is going for “temporary cuts of less than 5 per cent to its overall narrow-body network”.
“This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of Air India’s services on 3 routes and reduction of frequency on 19 routes. The changes are effective until at least 15 July 2025,” it said.
Flights on various other routes, including Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Mumbai, have been reduced.
On the Bengaluru-Chandigarh route, the weekly services have been cut to seven, Delhi-Bengaluru to 113, Delhi-Mumbai to 165, Delhi-Kolkata to 63, Delhi-Coimbatore to 12, Delhi-Goa (Dabolim) and Delhi-Goa (Mopa) to seven each.
Also, weekly flights on the Delhi-Hyderabad route have been reduced to 76, Delhi-Indore to 14, Delhi-Lucknow to 21, Delhi-Pune to 54, Mumbai-Ahmedabad to 37, Mumbai-Bengaluru to 84 and Mumbai-Kolkata to 30.
Weekly flights reduced on several routes
The statement said weekly flights are also being cut on Mumbai-Coimbatore route to 16, Mumbai-Kochi to 34, Mumbai-Goa (Dabolim) to 29, Mumbai-Hyderabad to 59 and Mumbai-Varanasi to seven.
“Despite these temporary reductions, Air India will continue to operate close to 600 daily flights with its narrow-body aircraft on 120 domestic and short-haul international routes,” the statement said.
According to the airline, the reductions are aimed at strengthening Air India’s network-wide operational stability and minimising last-minute inconvenience to passengers.
Air India also apologised to passengers affected by the curtailment in flights and said it is offering re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds.
On June 19, Air India said it will cut 38 international flights per week and suspend services on three overseas routes between June 21 and July 15.
