Indian, Gulf airlines rush to fly special flights on select routes

New Delhi | Mumbai: Indian and Gulf airlines are recalibrating operations and making dozens of emergency repatriation flights after airspace restrictions over West Asia disrupted one of the world's busiest air corridors, leaving travellers stuck. More than 500 flights have been cancelled as services have been suspended and long-haul capacity redeployed by Indian and West Asian airlines, according to statements issued on Wednesday.

"In view of the evolving airspace restrictions over Iran and the Middle East, more than 500 flights to the Middle East and select international destinations have been cancelled between February 28, 2026 and March 3, 2026," IndiGo parent InterGlobe Aviation said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.

The carrier is "continuously assessing the evolving regional developments" and "planning repatriation operations," while monitoring revenue impact.


The disruption underscores the importance of West Asian hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar to Indian aviation. The Gulf region accounts for a substantial portion of outbound labour traffic and connecting flows to the US, Europe and Africa, making prolonged airspace constraints commercially significant for carriers with dense exposure to the corridor. Alongside cancellations and suspensions, airlines are adjusting capacity.

Air India is deploying additional wide-body services to Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris. The carrier will operate three additional flights between Delhi and Toronto from March 5 to 11, alongside extra services to Frankfurt and Paris.

"These additional services will provide more flight options to travellers on these select routes with convenient connections beyond Delhi to destinations across Air India's vast domestic India and Southeast Asia networks," the airline said, adding it will "closely assess the situation" and add flights on these select routes beyond March 11 if required.

Budget carrier SpiceJet said on Wednesday it will operate eight special flights from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates on March 4 to facilitate the return of stranded Indian nationals. Four services will operate to Delhi, three to Mumbai and one to Kochi. The airline said it operated four special flights on March 3 connecting stranded passengers from the UAE to the three Indian destinations.

Akasa Air said March 4 that, following a "comprehensive safety review and based on the current assessment of the situation," it is reinstating select flights to and from destinations in West Asia. The airline will operate a flight from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai on March 4 to repatriate passengers and crew. It will also operate select services between Jeddah and Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru on March 4 and 5. Flights to and from Doha, Kuwait and Riyadh will remain suspended until March 5.

Air India Express said it will continue scheduled flights to and from Muscat on March 5, connecting Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli. Additional flights have been added between Muscat and Delhi and Mumbai until March 7. The airline will also operate special flights to and from Ras Al Khaimah from March 5 until March 7 linking Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai. West Asian carriers extended suspensions and issued passenger advisories.