AIR INDIA said on Wednesday (18) it will cut international operations on its widebody aircraft by 15 per cent for the next few weeks, citing ongoing safety inspections and operational disruptions following last week's deadly crash of one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Authorities continue to investigate the crash of flight AI171, which killed 241 people and marked the world's deadliest aviation disaster in a decade.
Inspections had been completed on 26 of Air India’s 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, and those 26 have been cleared for service, the airline said.
The cuts to some routes, effective until at least mid-July, were being implemented "to ensure stability of operations, better efficiency and minimise inconvenience to passengers," the Tata Group-owned airline said.
The remaining planes will be checked in the coming days and additional checks are also planned for its Boeing 777 fleet, Air India added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran said the flight that crashed last week in Ahmedabad had a clean engine history.
In an interview with Indian broadcaster Times Now, Chandrasekaran said Air India flight 171's right engine was new and installed in March 2025, and that the left engine was last serviced in 2023.
The Dreamliner was fitted with GE Aerospace's engines. "The plane was well-maintained, with its last major check in June 2023," Air India said.
"Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight," the airline added.
It said the pilots were accomplished flyers. "The flight was led by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a highly experienced pilot and trainer with over 10,000 hours flying widebody aircraft.
"First Officer Clive Kunder, had over 3,400 hours of flying experience."
The London-bound jet burst into a fireball when it smashed into a residential area of Ahmedabad moments after take-off, leaving at least 38 people dead on the ground.
Initial checks since the crash on Air India's Dreamliners "did not reveal any major safety concerns", the country's civil aviation regulator said earlier this week.
India's aviation investigative unit said on Thursday (19) the probe was "progressing steadily".
"Key recovery work, including site documentation and evidence collection, has been completed, and further analysis is now underway," the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said in a statement.
Air India also cited geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and "night curfews in many European and East Asian airspaces" as contributing factors behind flight cancellations, which have totalled 83 over the past six days.
India's aviation investigative unit said the probe was "progressing steadily" (PTI photo)
Details of the flights affected are as follows.
Routes suspended until July 15, 2025:
Delhi-Nairobi1 (AI961/962) – 4x weekly flights
Amritsar-London (Gatwick) (AI169/170) – 3x weekly flights
Goa (Mopa)-London (Gatwick) (AI145/146) – 3x weekly flights
Routes with reduced frequency until July 15, 2025:
North America
Delhi-Toronto: Reduced from 13x weekly to 7x weekly
Delhi-Vancouver: Reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly
Delhi-San Francisco: Reduced from 10x weekly to 7x weekly
Delhi-Chicago: Reduced from 7x weekly to 3x weekly
Delhi-Washington (Dulles): Reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly
Europe
Delhi-London (Heathrow): Reduced from 24x weekly to 22x weekly
Bengaluru-London (Heathrow): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly
Amritsar-Birmingham and Delhi Birmingham: Reduced from 3x weekly to 2x weekly
Delhi-Paris: Reduced from 14x weekly to 12x weekly
Delhi-Milan: Reduced from 7x weekly to 4x weekly
Delhi-Copenhagen: Reduced from 5x weekly to 3x weekly
Delhi-Vienna: Reduced from 4x weekly to 3x weekly
Delhi-Amsterdam: Reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly
Australia
Delhi-Melbourne and Delhi-Sydney: Reduced from 7x weekly to 5x weekly
Far-East
Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda): Reduced from 7x weekly to 6x weekly
Delhi-Seoul (Incheon): Reduced from 5x weekly to 4x weekly2
1Suspended until June 30 .
2To operate 3x weekly from June 21 to July 5 , and 4x weekly from July 6 to July 15 .
(with inputs from PTI)
Queen Elizabeth’s School students with their results