Air India has cancelled around 2,500 flights to West Asia over the past three weeks and is currently operating only about 30% of its normal schedule in the region due to the ongoing Iran conflict, CEO Campbell Wilson said.
The disruption is beginning to have a financial impact on the sector, with jet fuel prices more than doubling, Wilson said.
Other flights to the UK, Europe and North America are being rerouted even further from the already longer flight paths we’ve been using since the Pahalgam event last year, consuming more fuel and adding more time.
The airline is seeing “pockets of new demand” in markets such as Europe and North America, where it is deploying additional flights, even as some global carriers cut capacity due to high fuel costs.
Wilson acknowledged the operational challenges faced by staff, especially those “physically in the affected Middle East”, saying teams are “constantly monitoring and adjusting operations as the environment changes,” with safety remaining the “overriding priority”.
