Air India has suspended flight operations to and from Tel Aviv until April 30 after an alleged counterattack by Israel on Iranian targets.
“We are continuously monitoring the situation and are extending support to our passengers who have confirmed bookings for travel
Air India operates four weekly flights to Tel Aviv.
Besides, Air India on Friday cancelled its flights to and from Dubai due to continued operational disruptions at Dubai Airport
“We are doing our best to get affected customers on their way by re-accommodating them on flights as soon as operations resume. Customers booked on our flights with valid tickets for travel until April 21, will be offered a one-time waiver on rescheduling and full refunds for cancellations,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, in a weekly message to employees, Air India’s CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said, “It’s been a very busy week right across the company, and for many different reasons.”
“It started last weekend with the disruption to our Tel Aviv flights and, thereafter to some of our US schedules arising from closure and or avoidance of certain airspace and enroute overflight windows. Then, just a few days later, we had unprecedented rains in Dubai, causing significant disruption to schedules, passengers and crew.”
According to Wilson, Air India operates dozens of services between India and North America and nearly 250 flights per week between India and the UAE.
“I would therefore like to acknowledge the tremendous effort by our crews and ground staff at Tel Aviv to bring AI-140 safety back to Delhi, our teams serving on, or handling, the many other affected US and DXB flights, as well as everyone at the various supporting HQ departments,” Wilson said.
The alleged attack by Israel
It is estimated that the travel time will also increase by an hour as airlines have started avoiding the Iranian airspace.
Travel industry
Airlines avoiding the airspace will need to take longer routes, which would require an estimated 9-15% additional fuel burn per flight.
