Air India Flights To Use Alternative Middle East Routes To North America, Europe; 6 Flights Cancelled
The carrier announced the cancellation of six flights on Monday, including Amritsar-Birmingham (AI117), Birmingham-Delhi (AI114), and flights AI151, A152 (Delhi-Zurich) and AI157, AI158 (Delhi-Copenhagen).
Published : March 2, 2026 at 7:31 AM IST
New Delhi: Air India will operate its flights to North America and Europe via alternative routes over available airspaces in the Middle East, and will cancel six flights to various European cities on March 2.
The airline, which cancelled 50 international flights on Sunday, said it would extend suspension of all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar till 23:59 hours (IST) on March 2. In a post on X on Sunday, the carrier said six flights, including Amritsar-Birmingham (AI117) and Birmingham-Delhi (AI114), would be cancelled on Monday.
Besides, AI151 and A152 flights between Delhi and Zurich, as well as AI157 and AI158 flights between Delhi and Copenhagen, would be cancelled on Monday. “All other flights to North America and Europe will operate as per schedule using alternative routings over available airspaces in the Middle East, which is expected to add to the flying times.
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— Air India (@airindia) March 1, 2026
“In view of the continuing situation in the Middle East, Air India has extended the suspension of all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Qatar until 2359 hrs IST on 2 March 2026.
Additionally, select flights to Europe scheduled on 2 March…
"Additionally, flights to New York (JFK) and Newark (Liberty International) will operate with technical stops at Rome (Fiumicino Airport)," Air India said. With stops in Rome, the flying time for Air India flights to North America would increase and also result in increased operating expenses.
Since the Iran and Iraq airspaces remain closed, officials said the airline would take the Egypt route to reach Europe, which would mean 30-40 minutes of additional flying time. The flights would take the route through Oman, the southern part of Saudi Arabia and Egypt for European and North American destinations, the officials added.
The airline also said that it continues to closely monitor the situation and has carefully assessed the evolving circumstances across multiple parameters, including safety, security, airspace availability, and operational feasibility, before deciding on these operations for March 2. In the wake of the escalating Middle East crisis, flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with the civil aviation ministry saying Indian carriers cancelled 350 international flights on Sunday.
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