Air India restores most international flights from Sep 1, adds frequencies

Months after cutting nearly 27% of its global routes in response to soaring fuel costs, Air India has said it will restore all the international services from September 1 and add frequencies on several key long-haul routes, marking a return to its pre-cut schedule.

“Though fuel prices remain higher than before the Middle East conflict and remain volatile, they have moderated from their initial peak, so as well as the restorations we will be adding additional frequencies,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson wrote to employees on the airline’s internal portal.

The airline had suspended 145 weekly international flights between June and August 2026, affecting routes across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, SAARC and the Far East. The reductions included temporary suspensions of services such as Delhi–Chicago, Delhi–Newark and Mumbai–New York, while flights to Paris, Copenhagen, Milan, Vienna, Zurich, Rome and several London services were also scaled back.

Across Asia, 82 weekly flights to destinations including Kathmandu, Dhaka, Colombo, Bangkok, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City were withdrawn.

From September 1, these suspended services will return. In addition, in the winter season starting end of October, Air India will increase frequencies to Milan, Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna, Melbourne, Tokyo and New York, besides launching a new seasonal Mumbai–Toronto service..

The announcement comes as IndiGo prepares to suspend its wide-body operations to Europe from October 25. After discontinuing services to Copenhagen, the airline will also end wide-body flights to London and Manchester, while replacing its wide-body aircraft on the Amsterdam–Mumbai route with the narrower Airbus A321XLR.