Air India To Operate A Total Of 50 Flights To And From Gulf Nations On Sunday, Amid West Asia Conflict - Details Here

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Air India group announced on Saturday that the airline and Air India Express will operate a combined total of 50 scheduled and non-scheduled flights, to and from the West Asia region on Sunday, 22 March.

The Tata Group owned airline's announcement comes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel-US-Iran, which has also triggered tensions in West Asia – with no signs of easing.

As per a statement released on Friday, both Air India and Air India Express will continue their regular flights to and from Jeddah and Muscat on Sunday – with a total of 20 services operating between India and Jeddah.

Jeddah flights to connect which cities?

Out of the 20 flights scheduled to operate between Jeddah and India, Air India will operate one return service each from Delhi and Mumbai. Air India Express will operate one flight each from Bengaluru and Mangalore and two flights from Kozhikode, mentioned the statement.

Air India Express will also operate eight scheduled flights to and from Muscat, including services from Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai and Kannur

Which are the additional flights?

Besides the scheduled services, Air India and Air India Express will operate a total of 30 non-scheduled flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia – depending on the availability of slots and other prevailing conditions at the departure stations at the time.

These flights are being operated with the requisite permissions from the relevant Indian and local regulatory authorities, said Air India.

The UAE flights would operate between Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah Airports and Delhi, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, among other major Indian cities.

Air India's additional flights come amid the ongoing West Asia conflict – which entered its fourth week on Saturday, 21 March.

Iran launched a wave of retaliatory attacks after US, Israel jointly attacked the Islamic Republic on Saturday, 28 February. Explosions were reported across UAE, Abu Dhabi, among other Gulf hub – which are also home to US military bases.

DGCA advises airlines to avoid Gulf airspace

On Friday, 20 March, aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asked airlines to avoid certain airspaces in the Gulf region and ensure contingency plans as part of safety risk assessments, reported ANI – citing sources.

Earlier, the civil aviation regulator had temporarily allowed Air India relaxations in flight duty norms amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, sources said. According to sources, Air India is operating flights through longer alternative routes, resulting in longer flying hours, due to restrictions on Iranian and Iraqi airspace. As this happens, the DGCA has provided temporary relaxations to Air India in flight duty norms till Iran situation is resolved, mentioned the news wire report.

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