Air India begins phased restoration of international flights following safety pause

Air India has announced a partial restoration of international operations beginning August 1, 2025, after a “Safety Pause” was implemented following the AI171 accident on June 12. Full resumption of services is planned by October 1, 2025, with key updates as follows:

New Route (Aug 1 – Sep 30)

• Ahmedabad–London Heathrow: 3x weekly (replaces 5x weekly to London Gatwick)

Restored Routes & Increased Frequencies

Europe

• Delhi–London Heathrow: Back to full 24x weekly from July 16
• Delhi–Zurich: Increased to 5x weekly from August 1

Far East

• Delhi–Tokyo Haneda: Fully restored to 7x weekly from August 1
• Delhi–Seoul Incheon: Fully restored to 5x weekly from September 1

Africa

• Delhi–Nairobi: Operating 3x weekly until August 31, suspended for September

? Routes with Continued Reductions (Until Sep 30)

Europe

• Bengaluru–London Heathrow: Reduced to 4x weekly from August 1
• Amritsar–Birmingham: Back to 3x weekly from September 1
• Delhi–Birmingham/Paris/Milan/Copenhagen/Vienna/Amsterdam: Remain reduced, with Amsterdam returning to 7x weekly from August 1

North America

• Significant reductions continue on Delhi and Mumbai routes to JFK, Newark, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
• Slight increase on Delhi–Chicago to 4x weekly in August

Australia

• Delhi–Melbourne/Sydney: Remain reduced to 5x weekly

Temporarily Suspended Routes (Until Sep 30)

• Amritsar–London Gatwick
• Goa–London Gatwick
• Bengaluru–Singapore
• Pune–Singapore

Air India will operate over 525 international flights weekly across 63 routes during the partial restoration. Affected passengers are being contacted for rebooking or full refunds.

Note: Schedule changes due to ongoing aircraft checks and regional airspace closures.