Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft with registration VT-ANB flying over Tokyo, Japan on April 27, 2025 was captured from social media.
Koki Takagi | via Reuters
Air India, backed by Singapore Airlines, will sharply cut its international flights from June to August, the peak travel season, as airspace restrictions caused by the Iran war and record high jet fuel prices strain its ability to fly.
Airline industry experts say the airline is cutting nearly 140 flights a week, or about 27% of its total international flights.
“These changes are aimed at improving network stability and reducing inconvenience for last-minute passengers,” Air India said in a statement on Wednesday. Air India, jointly owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, will reduce its flights to North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
It is India’s second-largest airline, with 3.6 million seats and a 14% market share, according to OAG, an airline industry data provider.
Experts say Indian airlines are among the worst-hit airlines in the Middle East conflict, facing closures of airspace over Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sanjay Lazar, aviation expert and CEO of Aviaraz Consultants, stressed that the country is already facing airspace restrictions in Pakistan and China as well.
Lazar said the sector is now completely unviable due to “increased flight hours and increased crew costs, as well as additional fuel used for travel,” adding that jet fuel in India is up to 40% more expensive than in global hub airports due to local taxes.
The Aviation Federation of India warned last month that Indian airlines are “under extreme stress and at risk of closure or grounding,” according to local media reports.
Ansuman Deb, research analyst at ICICI Securities, told CNBC’s “Inside India” that Indian airlines will need to raise prices “somewhere in the 15% zone” to offset the impact of a weaker currency and higher jet fuel costs.
On Thursday, the Indian rupee, which has been one of Asia’s worst-performing currencies so far this year, fell to an all-time low of 95.95 to the dollar, according to LSEG data.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to avoid traveling abroad as the rupee is under pressure from bulging imports.
