Air Travel Update: Air India Expands Flights to Europe, New York Amid West Asia Crisis; this is all you need to know

3 minutes of readingMarch 9, 2026 12:55 pm IST

Air India on Monday (March 9) announced plans to deploy additional flight capacity to five key gateways in Europe as well as New York (JFK) in the coming days, along with additional services to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in response to high demand for travel options amid the current situation in West Asia.

The national airline will operate an additional 78 flights between March 10 and 18, 2026 on nine routes, linking Delhi and Mumbai with major destinations in Europe, the United States and neighboring countries.

1. Delhi-New York (JFK)1

2. Delhi-London (Heathrow)

3. Mumbai-London (Heathrow)

4. Delhi-Frankfurt

5. Delhi-Paris (CDG)

6. Delhi-Amsterdam

7. Delhi-Zurich

8. Delhi-Malé

9. Delhi-Colombo

“Together, these flights total 17,660 seats on nine routes in both directions. Additional flights on European routes will operate with B787-8s, and those to Malé and Colombo will be operated with A320neo aircraft. Flights to New York (JFK) are subject to required regulatory approvals and would operate with Air India B777-300ER aircraft,” Air India said in an official press release.

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Air India and Air India Express operate 24 scheduled flights to Jeddah and Muscat

Air India also announced that the airline, along with Air India Express, will jointly operate 24 scheduled flights to Jeddah and Muscat on March 9, 2026.

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“On March 9, 2026, Air India will operate a round trip from Delhi and Mumbai to Jeddah, and Air India Express will operate a round trip from Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kozhikode,” the national carrier said in a press release.

“Air India Express will also operate its scheduled services to Muscat, including one round trip from Delhi, Mumbai, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirappalli, and two round trips from Kochi,” it added.

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Etihad opens bookings for more than 100 flights to 20 key destinations

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Etihad Airways has opened bookings for more than 100 flights to 20 key destinations from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport.

The airline issued a statement saying that guests with previous reservations will be accommodated as soon as possible.

The airline advised passengers not to travel to the airport without a confirmed ticket. “Guests and members of the public should not travel to the airport unless they have been contacted directly by Etihad or have a confirmed booking on one of the new flights,” it said.

Etihad Airways outbound flight schedule from March 9 to 12

Flight services have been severely affected following the closure of airspace in the Middle East as tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel continue to rise.

Here is the flight schedule for March 9.

The latest flight schedule can be found at: https://t.co/xOQs6ucQGX pic.twitter.com/Z3g6fszIzZ

– Etihad Airways (@etihad) March 8, 2026

Here is the flight schedule for March 10.

The latest flight schedule can be found at: https://t.co/xOQs6ucQGX pic.twitter.com/yzY9qttwaL

– Etihad Airways (@etihad) March 8, 2026

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