Air India deploys extra flights to Toronto, Frankfurt, Paris amid West Asia tensions

Air India on Wednesday announced additional flights to Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to meet rising travel demand amid the ongoing situation in West Asia.

The airline’s low-cost arm, Air India Express, also said its services to Muscat will remain operational and that it will operate extra flights between Muscat and Delhi and Mumbai.

As part of the plan, the Tata Group-owned carrier will operate three additional flights between Delhi and Toronto from March 5 to 11. It will also add three more flights between Delhi and Frankfurt and one additional flight between Delhi and Paris (Charles de Gaulle) from March 7 to 10, the airline said.

The extra services are expected to provide travellers with more options on these routes, along with convenient onward connections from Delhi to destinations across Air India’s domestic and Southeast Asia network.

The airline added that it will continue to closely monitor the situation and may add more flights on these routes beyond March 11, depending on developments.

In a post on X, Air India Express said it will continue operating flights to and from Muscat on March 5 while adding more services between Muscat and Delhi and Mumbai. It also said special flights are being operated from Ras Al Khaimah connecting Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai until March 7.

Another Indian carrier, Akasa Air, said it will operate five flights on Wednesday connecting Abu Dhabi and Jeddah with Mumbai and Ahmedabad. These include a flight from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai and services between Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jeddah along with their return legs.

“Following a comprehensive safety review and based on the current assessment of the situation, we are reinstating select flights to and from certain destinations in the Middle East,” Akasa Air said in a statement.

However, the airline said its services to Doha, Kuwait and Riyadh will remain suspended until March 5. It will operate Mumbai–Jeddah–Mumbai and Bengaluru–Jeddah–Bengaluru flights on Thursday.

Air travel has been significantly affected since February 28 due to airspace restrictions in parts of the Middle East amid the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.