Air India to fully restore international services by October following June crash
August 7, 2025
Air India has announced the continued resumption of its international flight schedule, with plans to fully restore operations to pre-June levels by October 1.
The development comes after the accident involving one of the airline’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners earlier this summer.
On June 12, Flight AI 171, bound for London, suffered a catastrophic loss of thrust shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad and crashed into a nearby building, resulting in the deaths of 242 people on board the flight and 19 others on the ground.
Following the incident, Air India suspended a significant portion of its international services as a precaution, amounting to a 15% reduction in services.
But now that safety inspections have been carried out and Air India’s operation has stabilised, the airline’s CEO, Campbell Wilson, confirmed the phased restart in a company statement on Wednesday.
Air India acknowledges ‘operational challenges’
“I recognise that there have been some operational challenges over the last few weeks that may have impacted your travel experience. Rest assured, we take this seriously and are committed to strengthening our internal processes to minimise such inconvenience,” Wilson said.
“This measured approach ensures we complete every verification thoroughly and resume service with complete confidence.”
The suspension also followed safety concerns raised by the US Federal Aviation Authority in 2018 regarding the possibility of unintentional disengagement of fuel supply control switches on Dreamliner aircraft.
Subsequently, India’s aviation regulator, the Director-General of Civil Aviation, mandated comprehensive safety audits for both Air India and IndiGo, the only domestic operators of the Dreamliner model.
Return to full schedule
Air India first announced a temporary scale-back of long-haul operations using its Boeing 787 and 777 fleets in June.
The carrier cited the need for precautionary safety inspections in the wake of the crash, as well as ongoing airspace constraints over parts of Europe and the Middle East, for the reduction in services.
The revised flying programme took effect from 21 June 2025.
Three routes were temporarily suspended: Delhi–Nairobi (AI961/962), Amritsar–London Gatwick (AI169/170), and Goa Mopa–London Gatwick (AI145/146).
Numerous other intercontinental routes saw reduced frequencies, impacting connections to North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and Australia.
Delhi–Toronto, for example, was dropped to once daily, while Delhi–Chicago and Delhi–Washington was cut to three times weekly.
In Europe, several cities including Paris, Milan, and Copenhagen also saw reductions.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Delhi–Tokyo and Delhi–Seoul were among the affected routes.
Delhi to London Heathrow was reduced from 24x weekly to 22x weekly, while Bengaluru to Heathrow dropped from 7x weekly to 6x weekly.
Short haul services have also been affected, but to a lesser extent, with changes to less than 5% of Air India’s narrowbody operations.
They included suspensions to Bengaluru to Singapore (AI2392/2393), Pune to Singapore (AI2111/2110), and Mumbai to Bagdogra (AI551/552), which previously operated daily.
Reductions in frequency have been implemented on key trunk and regional routes, including Delhi to Mumbai: 176 down to 165 weekly; Mumbai to Kolkata: 42 down to 30; Bengaluru to Chandigarh: 14 down to 7; and Mumbai to Varanasi: 12 down to 7.
Last month, Air India said it was bringing four of its international routes back to full service by 1 August.
The airline also introduced a new route, with a three-times weekly service between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow, replacing the Gatwick link.
From August 1, Air India will add a fifth weekly service on its Delhi–Zurich route, up from the current four.
Daily flights between Delhi and Tokyo Haneda are set to resume on the same date, while the Delhi–Seoul Incheon service will operate five times a week starting September 1.
The Delhi–London Heathrow route has already returned to its full pre-crash schedule of 24 weekly flights.
