Following the recent crash of Air India AI171 at Ahmedabad, and the closure of airspace over the Middle East amid tensions in the region, Air India announced a 15% reduction of its international flights for the next few weeks.
Following the recent crash of Air India AI171 at Ahmedabad, and the closure of airspace over the Middle East amid tensions in the region, Air India announced a 15% reduction of its international flights for the next few weeks.
The Gurugram, India-based airline the temporary reduction of flights taking place between June 20 through mid-July will affect domestic and international flights operated with Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft. Air India states that the reductions will add to its reserve aircraft availability to take care of any unplanned disruptions.
The flights that will be suspended and the routes affected until July 15 include the following: Delhi-Nairobi (AI961/AI962), Amritsar-London (Gatwick) (AI169/AI170), Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) (AI145/AI146).
Routes that will see reduced flight frequencies include (by region and origin):
North America
Delhi:Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington (Dulles)
Europe
Delhi: London (Heathrow), Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Vienna, Amsterdam
Bengaluru: London (Heathrow)
Amritsar: London (Heathrow)
Australia
Delhi– Melbourne, Sydney
East Asia
Delhi –Tokyo (Haneda), Seoul (Incheon)
As the investigation of the crash of AI171 is still ongoing, India's DGCA mandated “Enhanced Safety Inspection” across Air India's Boeing 787 fleet which comprises of 33 -8 and -9 aircraft. As a matter of precaution, Air India will also conduct enhanced safety checks on its Boeing 777 aircraft.
According to Air India, of the 33 787s inspected 26 have been cleared for service.
In addition to the safety inspections, due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and night curfews at many destination airports Air India has seen a total of 33 flight cancellations over the past week.
“Air India apologises to the passengers affected due to these curtailments, and will inform them in advance and make its best efforts to accommodate them on alternate flights. Passengers will also be offered a choice to reschedule their travel without any cost or to be given full refund, as per their choice.”
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