Air India restores key routes after tragic crash, resumes partial services from Aug 1

Air India on Tuesday announced a partial resumption of its domestic and international flight operations, nearly a month after suspending several services under a "Safety Pause" following the tragic crash of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft on June 12, according to media reports.

As part of the revised international schedule, the airline will operate thrice-weekly flights between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow starting August 1, replacing the existing five-times-weekly Ahmedabad-Gatwick route.

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The airline said the pause in services allowed it to perform precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 fleet and adjust for longer flying times due to ongoing airspace closures over Pakistan and parts of the Middle East.

Air India confirmed that it aims for full restoration of its schedules by October 1, with the first phase of partial resumption beginning August 1. It has already reinstated two curtailed frequencies on the Delhi-London (Heathrow) route, bringing it back to 24 weekly flights from July 16.

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Other route updates include:

- Delhi-Zurich to increase from four to five times weekly starting August 1

- Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda) to resume daily operations from August 1

- Delhi-Seoul (Incheon) to return to five-times-weekly from September 1

However, several key routes will continue at reduced frequencies through September:

- Bengaluru-London (Heathrow): Four weekly flights from August 1

- Delhi-Paris: Down from 12 to seven weekly flights from August 1

- Delhi-Milan: Cut to three weekly flights from July 16

- Delhi and Mumbai to New York (JFK): Six weekly flights each from July 16 and August 1 respectively

- Flights to Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver will also operate at reduced frequencies through August

Some routes remain temporarily suspended until September 30, including:

Amritsar-London (Gatwick)

Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick)

Bengaluru-Singapore

Pune-Singapore

Air India assured that affected passengers are being proactively contacted for rebooking or refunds, and expressed regret for the inconvenience caused by the disruptions.

The airline noted that with the partial restoration in place, it will operate over 525 international flights per week covering 63 short-, long-, and ultra-long-haul destinations.

The update comes after a devastating incident on June 12, when an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport en route to London Gatwick. The crash killed 241 of the 242 passengers on board, along with 19 people on the ground, making it the deadliest aviation disaster globally in the past decade.

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