New Delhi: Air India Sunday said it will temporarily reduce 118 weekly flights operated with narrow-body planes on 19 routes as well as suspend services on three routes.
The temporary cuts in services account for about 5 per cent of the airline’s overall narrow-body operations and the move is aimed at ensuring operational stability amid disruptions in the wake of the fatal plane crash in Ahmedabad June 12.
All the 19 routes where reduction in narrow-body services have been done are domestic and of the three routes where flights have been suspended, two are international and one is domestic.
The announcement comes days after the Tata Group-owned carrier said it will cut international flights operated with wide-body planes by 15 per cent temporarily.
In a statement, the airline said it is going for “temporary cuts of less than 5 per cent to its overall narrow-body network”.
“This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of Air India’s services on 3 routes and reduction of frequency on 19 routes. The changes are effective until at least 15 July 2025,” it said.
As many as seven weekly flights each on three routes — Bengaluru-Singapore, Pune-Singapore and Mumbai-Bagdogra — have been suspended till at least July 15.
Flights on various other routes, including Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Mumbai, have been reduced.
On the Bengaluru-Chandigarh route, the weekly services have been cut to seven, Delhi-Bengaluru to 113, Delhi-Mumbai to 165, Delhi-Kolkata to 63, Delhi-Coimbatore to 12, Delhi-Goa (Dabolim) and Delhi-Goa (Mopa) to seven each.
Also, weekly flights on the Delhi-Hyderabad route have been reduced to 76, Delhi-Indore to 14, Delhi-Lucknow to 21, Delhi-Pune to 54, Mumbai-Ahmedabad to 37, Mumbai-Bengaluru to 84 and Mumbai-Kolkata to 30.
The statement said weekly flights are also being cut on Mumbai-Coimbatore route to 16, Mumbai-Kochi to 34, Mumbai-Goa (Dabolim) to 29, Mumbai-Hyderabad to 59 and Mumbai-Varanasi to seven.
“Despite these temporary reductions, Air India will continue to operate close to 600 daily flights with its narrow-body aircraft on 120 domestic and short-haul international routes,” the statement said.
According to the airline, the reductions are aimed at strengthening Air India’s network-wide operational stability and minimising last-minute inconvenience to passengers.
Air India also apologised to passengers affected by the curtailment in flights and said it is offering re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary rescheduling or full refunds.
On June 19, Air India said it will cut 38 international flights per week and suspend services on three overseas routes between June 21 and July 15.
PTI
