Air India Cuts Domestic Flights For July & August Amid Fuel Crisis Triggered By Iran War

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]More news coming in at this point in time, fuel cost is forcing Air India to trim flights, viewers. Air India has cut down on domestic flights, [music] is what we are learning. After international flights, now domestic schedules have been hit. Iran crisis brewing for weeks at a stretch now, casting a shadow [music] on India's aviation sector. So, what we know is that Air India has cut down the flight schedule for the month of July and for the month of August. Flyers to are get a refund >> [music] >> and then to be accommodated in other flights, is what we are learning. But, we also know that this becomes extremely difficult and inconvenient. Amit Bharadwaj is getting [music] in more on that story. Air India is trimming down its domestic schedule and passengers would be accommodated. How? Tell us a little more about what you're learning, Amit.

[00:00:57]Uh Sneha, this is a big big uh breaking news uh for the aviation sector and the passengers uh what are viewers as well.

[00:01:04]You know, first [music] we knew that international flights of Air India got trimmed for the month of July and August and many of the flights even in the month of June got trimmed down because of the higher input cost, that is the fuel charges uh the pri- the fuel cost was going up. Uh the depleting currency exchange rate was hurting Air India and that had forced them to cut down on their international operations, but the heat is now coming at home as well.

[00:01:30]Domestic operations of Air India is getting trimmed. What we are given to understand through our sources is that the trimming could be round about 15 to 20%, so on several routes uh the uh frequency of the flights will be cut down. So, suppose if you have Delhi-Mumbai, for instance, for an example, hypothetically, uh four flights or six flights running every day between Delhi-Mumbai of Air India, that could be actually reduced down to four if if uh there are six flights. So, that is the kind of frequency reduction that is being planned right now. Air India is actually working out on that reduction of the frequency of flights. This will be in effect for the month of July and August. This is going to be a temporary measure because, you know, this is the heat of international fuel crisis triggered by Iran war and ATF prices that is the aviation turbine fuel cost has gone up to a large extent and despite the government's intervention, the aviation operators were actually feeling the heat. They were literally bleeding and that is why this step is now being taken by Air India. My sources are telling me that there could be cut down of 15 to 20% in the overall domestic operations of Air India. That's what we know. Which all flights will get affected, which all routes will get affected, where will be the highest cut down is something which is being worked upon right now, Sneha. Amit, be with us.

[00:02:58]I'm just going to come back to you in a moment from now. For our viewers who just joined us, we'll tell a little about what is expected as far as fuel prices are concerned and the fuel crisis is concerned. So, the fuel cost is now forcing Air India to trim down flights, which means there would be lesser flights and there would be clearly more confusion and chaos. Will Air India cut these flights scheduled for the month of July and August? Perhaps some more time for the passengers to make alternative arrangements. And this is an exclusive news break that Amit has got for us.

[00:03:31]Amit continues to be with us. It's a crisis that perhaps I think was expected. We saw this coming, Amit, in that sense.

[00:03:39]Tell us about how the civil aviation ministry is looking at these developments. What are the other ways that flyers can get some relief apart from refund because I do know that, you know, getting yourself booked on another flight is a pain in any case, isn't it?

[00:03:58]All right, you know, what Air India is looking at is that [music] they want to create a assistance window for the passengers who will get impacted and certainly [music] July and August being the month as well where a lot of people would be moving around within the domestic [music] circuit. So, what happens is that they are saying that they'll be giving an option of full refund to the passengers.

[00:04:18]Second option would be you get re-accommodated on other flight on the day. And third option is [music] that you can actually change the date of journey. So, suppose if you are supposed to fly on 5th of June or 5th of July rather in this case, you can if you want you can reschedule [music] it to some other date for your journey. So, all these measures will be given, but you are rightly pointing [music] out because if you have a you know, journey pre-planned, there must be a reason you are traveling. Whether the seats will be available or not is something that you have to have to look into. Refund possibly Air India would want that those refunds to be processed immediately so that the passengers can actually book on some other flight if they want, some other operator if they want. So, all of that is something that they will have to work upon. Now, coming back to that question of Mocha, what is going to be the response of the Ministry of Civil Aviation? We know for a matter of fact, Mocha was in consultation with the Petroleum Ministry to provide some kind of cushioning to the you know, insiders or the operators for that matter in India.

[00:05:23]And that came in form of staggered increase in the ATF prices that was announced by the Petroleum Ministry. Having said that, there there was another major intervention taken by the Ministry [music] of Civil Aviation is reaching out to the states which are charging higher VAT on ATF. Maharashtra used to charge 18% VAT on ATF, that got reduced to 7% Delhi used to charge 25% of [music] VAT on ATF, that has been now slashed down to 7% in order to provide some kind of cushion to the you know air operators airline operators. Having said that, what happens to West Bengal? [music] What happens to Tamil Nadu, Telangana? All these states are known for wrong reasons as far as the VAT is concerned in a time when ATF prices have gone up and more states will have [music] to step in to help the you know aviation sector in India for them to maintain their operations and possibly civil aviation ministry could actually now fasten [music] that process of reaching out to more states appealing them to cut down on the VAT on ATF. Back to you. Right, Amit with the very latest on that story. So this is an impact that's going to be felt on the India's aviation sector. Impacted passengers to be accommodated on other flights, refunds, a change in date of journey dates of journey, beg your pardon.

[00:06:45]Options by Air India is what we are learning. Now remember international flights have been hit already and now it's the time for domestic flights. High fuel cost leading to some sort of rationalization is what we are seeing in select domestic routes of Air India.

[00:07:03]After trimming international schedule, Air India now cutting down on its domestic operations for the [music] month of July and for August impact of the Iran crisis hurting India's civil aviation sector. Undoubtedly impacted passengers to be accommodated on other flights, refunds, a change in date of journey options by Air [music] India is what we are learning. That continues to be one of the top focus stories and we will be getting you more on that even as the impact of the fuel cost and of the war is being felt in India, country not alone right here that