New Delhi: Amid rising concerns over recurring technical snags and passenger safety, Air India on Sunday announced a temporary reduction in operations of some of its narrowbody aircraft. The airline said the curtailment will impact less than 5% of its overall narrowbody network and is aimed at strengthening operational stability and avoiding last-minute inconvenience to passengers. These changes, which include both suspension and reduced frequency on several domestic and short-haul international routes, will remain effective until at least July 15, 2025.
In an official statement, Air India said that services on three key routes—Bengaluru–Singapore, Pune–Singapore, and Mumbai–Bagdogra—will be temporarily suspended. Each of these routes had seven weekly flights. Additionally, flight frequencies on 19 other routes have been reduced. This includes high-traffic routes like Delhi–Mumbai, reduced from 176 to 165 flights weekly; Delhi–Bengaluru from 116 to 113; Mumbai–Bengaluru from 91 to 84; and Mumbai–Kolkata from 42 to 30. Other routes affected include Delhi–Goa (both Dabolim and Mopa), Delhi–Hyderabad, Delhi–Indore, Mumbai–Ahmedabad, Mumbai–Coimbatore, and Mumbai–Varanasi, among others.
Despite these adjustments, the airline will continue to operate nearly 600 daily flights across 120 domestic and short-haul international destinations using its narrowbody fleet. Air India also announced comprehensive support measures for affected passengers. These include options for rebooking on alternate flights, complimentary rescheduling, or full refunds, depending on customer preference.
The airline is proactively reaching out to impacted travelers and is updating the revised schedule on its website, mobile app, and through its customer care services. “Air India apologises to the passengers affected by these curtailments and remains committed to restoring its full schedule as soon as practicable,” the statement said. “Passenger, crew, and aircraft safety remains our top priority.”
