Air India To Reduce Short-Haul International And Domestic Flights, Including Delhi-Mumbai Route After Long Haul Cuts

After Air India temporarily reduced its wide-body aircraft operations by 15%, it has announced to reduce its operations carried out through narrow-body aircraft by less than 5% till July 15. With this move, the airline will suspend three routes including short-haul international routes and reduce operations on 16 domestic routes affecting India’s busiest Delhi-Mumbai route as well as Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Goa and other airports.

The Free Press Journal had reported on Wednesday that Air India announced to reduce operations on its wide-body aircraft including Boeing 787-8 and 777 after it started facing aircraft shortage due to safety checks on Dreamliner aircraft mandated post the Ahmedabad plane crash, airspace restriction in Middle East and Europe as well as its voluntary checks on the Boeing 777 fleet. On Thursday, the airline had announced that it will temporarily suspend six international routes and reduce operations on 32 routes.

While Air India has also started struggling with non-Dreamliner routes, it announced to cut down additional international and domestic routes operated using narrow-body aircraft including Airbus A319, A320, A320 Neo, A321 and A321 Neo until at least July 15. The airline said that it will suspend three short-haul international and domestic daily routes including Pune-Singapore, Bengaluru-Singapore and Mumbai-Bagdogra.

Moreover, the airline will substantially reduce operations on 16 domestic routes including the country’s busiest Delhi-Mumbai route from 176 flights a week to 165 flights a week. Similarly, number of flights every week between Delhi and Bengaluru have also been reduced from 116 to 113. The curtailment also includes flights connecting Chandigarh, Kolkata, Coinbatore, Goa Mopa and Dabolim, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Varanasi.

Air India said that despite these temporary reductions, it will continue to operate close to 600 daily flights with its narrow-body aircraft on 120 domestic and short-haul international routes. “These reductions are aimed at strengthening Air India’s network-wide operational stability and minimising last-minute inconvenience to passengers. Air India apologises to the passengers affected by these curtailments and is proactively contacting affected passengers to offer re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds as per their preferences,” read the airline’s statement.