Air India slashes global flights by 15% amid Iran airspace closure, safety checks
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Air India slashes global flights by 15% amid Iran airspace closure, safety checks – Telegraph India
As many as 83 flights were cancelled by Air India in the last six days. The decision was prompted by the geopolitical tensions in West Asia, night curfews in the airspaces of several countries in Europe and East Asia. The cuts, which will be implemented immediately, will continue at least until the middle of July. The Delhi-Denpasar flight took off from the national capital at 10.57pm on Tuesday after an hour’s delay. The flight landed safely in Varanasi around 3.50pm and departed for Delhi after three hours.
The cuts, which will be implemented immediately, will continue at least until the middle of July.
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The decision was prompted by the geopolitical tensions in West Asia, night curfews in the airspaces of several countries in Europe and East Asia, the ongoing safety checks and the cautious approach adopted by the engineering staff and pilots of Air India.
As many as 83 flights were cancelled by Air India in the last six days.
Plane returns mid-air
An Air India flight bound for Indonesia returned to Delhi mid-air following a volcanic eruption near the destination airport in Bali.
The Delhi-Denpasar flight took off from the national capital at 10.57pm on Tuesday after an hour’s delay and was in the air for almost five hours before turning back.
Several eruptions in Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki sent thick columns of ash and smoke into the sky between Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon.
Keeping the safety of passengers in mind, the Air India flight was advised to return to its origin airport. The return flight from Bali to Delhi was also cancelled.
“Air India flight AI2145 on June 18, 2025, from Delhi to Bali was advised to return to Delhi due to reports of volcanic eruption near destination airport Bali in the interest of safety,” Air India said, regretting the inconvenience.
On Tuesday, a flight from Bali was diverted to Varanasi’s Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport because of poor weather in Delhi. The flight landed safely in Varanasi around 3.50pm and departed for Delhi after three hours. It reached Delhi airport at 8.13pm.
Two more international flights were cancelled by the airline on Wednesday over maintenance and technical issues. In both cases, the passengers had already boarded the aircraft.
Air India said it had to cancel its Toronto-Delhi flight AI188 due to extended maintenance, which violated the cap on the operating crew’s maximum flight duty period.
Flight AI996 from Dubai to Delhi was cancelled due to technical reasons.
The Ahmedabad-London flight, which could not take off on time on Wednesday owing to the unavailability of aircraft, left the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport 4.5 hours late.
Additional reporting by PTI