Air India, AI Express resume flights to Middle East as airspaces reopen

Air India and Air India Express on Tuesday progressively resumed their services to the Middle East, with flights to Dubai and Muscat, respectively, as countries in the region reopened their airspaces.

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With escalating tensions in the Middle East, especially after Iran launching missiles against US airbase in Qatar, some countries in the region shut their airspaces resulting in numerous flight diversions and cancellations, including by Indian carriers.

Tata Group-owned carriers — Air India and Air India Express — have restarted flights to cities in the Middle East. Officials said Air India is operating Delhi-Dubai flight and Air India Express is operating Delhi-Muscat service.

On Tuesday, Air India said it will progressively resume flights to the Middle East as airspaces are gradually reopening in the region and most of the operations will resume from June 25.

“Flights to and from Europe, previously cancelled, are also being progressively reinstated from today, while services to and from the East Coast of the US and Canada will resume at the earliest opportunity,” the airline said in a statement.

Some flights may experience delays or cancellations due to consequential impacts and extended re-routings/flight times, but we are committed to minimising disruptions and restoring our schedule integrity, it added.

Air India Express, which is one of the largest operators to the Middle East, also said it is progressively resuming services to the Middle East from Tuesday with flights to Muscat, Riyadh and Jeddah.

“Our first flight to the region today will be on the Delhi-Muscat route, followed by services on the Mumbai-Muscat, Kozhikode-Muscat, Kozhikode-Riyadh, and Jaipur-Jeddah routes,” it said.

The airline’s flights to key cities in the UAE — including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, and Ras Al Khaimah — as well as other cities in the Middle East, are scheduled from Wednesday.

IndiGo said its flight services to Gulf countries have stabilised and are operating as scheduled. “However, as airspace over Iran remains restricted, some flights may take alternate routes, which could result in longer travel times,” the carrier said in a post on X.

The airspace closures in the Middle East and disruptions will result in increased operational costs for the Indian carriers. Already, Air India is taking longer routes to fly to Europe and North America due to airspace closures.