Air India has announced on Tuesday that it will begin restoring some of its international flights from August 1, after a temporary “safety pause” that followed a fatal plane crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad. The full international flight schedule is expected to be back in place by October 1.
The decision comes after India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the crash of flight AI171, in which 260 people died. According to the report, both engine fuel switches were accidentally turned to “cutoff” position just after takeoff, causing the aircraft to lose thrust and crash.
“That pause enabled Air India to perform additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft as well as accommodating longer flying times arising from airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middle East,” the airline said in a statement.
Flights resuming from August
From August 1, Air India will fly three times a week between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow, instead of the earlier five weekly flights to London Gatwick. The airline will also resume two Delhi–London (Heathrow) flights and one additional flight to Zurich, increasing the Delhi-Zurich route to five times a week.
Flights to Tokyo and Seoul, which had been reduced earlier, will also return to full strength — seven and five weekly flights respectively – by September 1.
Despite this, several routes will still run on reduced frequency until September 30, and four international routes will remain suspended until that date.
Routes with fewer flights (until September 30)
Europe:
-Bengaluru–London Heathrow: Down to four weekly flights from August 1
-Amritsar–Birmingham: Reduced to two weekly until August 31, returns to three in September
-Delhi–Birmingham, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Vienna, Amsterdam: All operating at reduced frequencies
North America:
-Flights to Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and New York (JFK and Newark) remain cut down, with slight adjustments expected through August.
Australia:
Delhi–Melbourne and Delhi–Sydney: Operating five weekly flights instead of seven
Africa:
-Delhi–Nairobi: Will run three weekly flights till August 31, then pause for all of September
Flights still suspended till September 30
-Amritsar–London Gatwick
-Goa (Mopa)–London Gatwick
-Bengaluru–Singapore
-Pune–Singapore
Interestingly, even after the reduced service, the Tata Group’s airline will still operate more than 525 international flights weekly on 63 global routes.