Air India to resume some flights following ‘safety pause’ in aftermath of Ahmedabad crash
The partial restoration of flights follows ‘precautionary checks’ on the airline’s Boeing 787 aircraft
BigThink
.jpeg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800)
Air India will resume some international flights in August following the fatal crash of flight AI171 in Ahmedabad last month.
On Tuesday (15 July), the airline announced the “partial restoration” of schedules that were reduced during a “safety pause”.
The pause was used to perform “precautionary checks” on Boeing 787 aircraft and accommodate longer flying times due to airspace closures over the Middle East, said a statement from Air India.
On 12 June, 260 people died after a London-bound Air India 787 Boeing Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport in India's western state of Gujarat.
From 1 August, flights connecting Ahmedabad and London Heathrow will depart three times a week, replacing the route that currently flies five flights between Ahmedabad and Gatwick weekly.
Reinstated flights in Europe include journeys from Delhi to Heathrow and Zurich, with regular trips from Delhi to Tokyo and Seoul also introduced back into schedules by 1 September.
Travellers from Delhi to destinations such as Birmingham, Sydney, New York, Copenhagen and Chicago will also find flights have continued reductions or changed frequencies.
Two routes to Gatwick – from Amritsar and Goa – remain suspended until 30 September, alongside flights from Bengaluru and Pune to Singapore.
According to an Air India statement: “As the schedule reductions taken as part of the Safety Pause had been implemented until 31 July 2025 and the restoration to full operation is being phased, some services initially planned to operate between 1 August and 30 September 2025 will be removed from the schedule.”
Air India apologised to affected passengers, adding that it is “proactively contacting” customers to rebook on alternative flights or request a full refund.
With the partial restoration of flights, the airline will operate over 525 international flights per week on 63 routes.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
