Air India Suspends Flight Operations Between Delhi and Tel Aviv Amid Tensions

As the tensions between Israel and Iran escalate, Air India has decided to prioritize the safety of its crew and passengers and has halted its flights to and from Israel. This means that the only direct link between both countries by air is no longer active.

Air India Suspends Tel Aviv Flight

A day before yesterday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued an advisory notifying all Indian citizens to refrain from traveling to Israel and Iran amid rising tensions between both countries. It also asked the NRIs living in these countries to register themselves with Indian embassies and remain in close touch with them. Yesterday, Iran launched a series of attacks on Israel with its ballistic and hypersonic missiles. The Iron Dome of Israel has successfully defended Israel, as only seven out of 300+ missiles hit the ground.

An Air India spokesperson said that the airline has decided to temporarily suspend flight operations between Delhi and Tel Aviv. The four times-a-week service will remain cancelled till further notice. Flights will resume whenever tensions calm down.

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner registered as VT-ANE, which flew from Delhi to Tel Aviv yesterday on 13 April has returned to India. There was a rumor that the aircraft had diverted to Beirut, but it was a glitch from flight tracking websites.

The majority of Air India flights to Europe and North America utilize the Iranian airspace. Now, the airline is avoiding the airspace. Same case with other Indian carriers. The former Delta Boeing 777-200LR fleet of Air India cannot fly over the Hindu Kush range because of limited oxygen supply cylinders onboard. As a result, flight AI380 from Mumbai to San Francisco is taking a fuel stopover at Dubai World Central Airport for seamless operations.

Second Suspension to Tel Aviv

This is not the first time that Air India has suspended the Tel Aviv service. After the October 7 attack by HAMAS, the airline suspended operations for the safety of its crew and passengers. From October to March, the flights remain suspended. It resumed scheduled service on March 3. Last year, Israeli airline El Al also announced the launch of services from Tel Aviv to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. However, the airline failed to do so because of the war.

Air India flights are currently overflying Iranian airspace, just above certain edges. Through the safe passage, the aircraft exits the airspace to enter the Turkmenistan airspace. This way, the airline can escape from the dangers above Iran airspace as well as Afghanistan airspace. A similar approach has been taken by IndiGo Airlines for its Delhi to Istanbul flight.

Global airlines like Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and Qantas have canceled several flights due to the conflict in the Middle East. Qantas has paused its Perth to London service. Lufthansa has canceled flights not just to Tel Aviv, but to neighboring destinations like Erbil, Amman, and Beirut as well. Lufthansa flight from Munich to Singapore is stopping at Bengaluru Airport for a fuel stopover.

Air India will return to Israel whenever the situation relaxes as this is an important and less competitive market. The major question is when will the situation relax? Air India had stopped Russian flights in March 2023. After more than a year, the airline has yet to resume services because of insurance reasons.

When do you think will Air India resume services? Discuss in the comments section.

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