Air India to cut international flights post AI-171 crash; 3 routes suspended, multiple curtailed till July 15
Air India on Thursday announced a temporary suspension and reduction of several international flights from June 21 to July 15, 2025, following the fatal crash of its AI-171 flight in Ahmedabad last week.
The airline said it is scaling back operations to conduct enhanced pre-flight safety checks and to factor in increased flight durations caused by ongoing airspace closures in the Middle East. The move, it said, aims to "restore schedule stability and minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers."
Further to the press statement released yesterday, 18 June 2025, which announced a temporary reduction in services operated by Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft, we wish to provide details on the flights affected.
These reductions will be effective from 21 June 2025,…
— Air India (@airindia) June 19, 2025
In a post on X, Air India detailed the impacted routes, including three that will be temporarily suspended:
Air India will also reduce frequency on key long-haul routes to North America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia:
Far East
-
Delhi–Seoul (Incheon): 5x to 4x weekly
(To operate 3x weekly from June 21 to July 5, then 4x weekly through July 15)
The flight curtailments come just days after the tragic crash of AI-17, a London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12. The aircraft crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in the Meghani Nagar area, killing 241 of the 242 people onboard, along with multiple casualties on the ground — the exact number remains uncertain.
Air India expressed regret for the disruption and said it is proactively reaching out to affected passengers. “We are offering re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling, or full refunds as per passenger preference,” the airline stated.
The airline had earlier acknowledged on June 18 that services operated by Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft would be temporarily scaled back for enhanced safety checks.
