New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI): Air India on Sunday announced that it will deploy additional capacity to five key gateways in Europe, as well as to New York (JFK)1 over the next few days, supported by additional services to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in response to sustained high demand for reliable travel options amid the ongoing situation in West Asia.

According to an official release, between 10 and 18 March 2026, Air India will operate 78 additional flights on the following routes, thus boosting much-needed capacity when travel options for passengers remain constrained: Delhi-New York (JFK)1, Delhi-London (Heathrow), Mumbai-London (Heathrow), Delhi-Frankfurt, Delhi-Paris (CDG), Delhi-Amsterdam, Delhi-Zurich, Delhi-Male and Delhi-Colombo.

Together, these flights add 17,660 seats on nine routes in both directions. The additional flights on the European routes will operate with B787-8, and those to Male and Colombo will be operated with A320neo aircraft. The flights to New York (JFK) are subject to the requisite regulatory approvals and would operate with Air India's B777-300ER aircraft.

Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said, 'Despite the odds, Air India continues to maintain its scheduled services to Europe and North America, sustaining connectivity to several international gateways using alternative routings that are assessed as safe for operations. We are confident that passengers in need to travel to destinations in these regions will appreciate the additional options and reliability with Air India.'

Earlier today, Air India and Air India Express announced that they are continuing scheduled flight operations to select West Asian destinations, while operating additional non-scheduled flights to assist stranded travellers amid ongoing airspace restrictions in parts of the region.

According to the press release, airspace over Saudi Arabia and Oman remains open, allowing the airline to maintain regular services to and from Jeddah and Muscat.

As per the release, Air India is operating scheduled flights connecting Delhi and Mumbai with Jeddah. Meanwhile, Air India Express continues to operate flights linking Muscat with Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Kannur, along with services connecting Jeddah with Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Mangaluru.

The airlines also announced additional non-scheduled flights on March 8 with approvals from Indian and local authorities to facilitate travellers affected by the regional restrictions. Air India will operate special services between Delhi and Dubai and between Mumbai and Dubai. Air India Express will operate 30 additional flights connecting Indian cities with several destinations in the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah.

According to the press release, these additional flights are primarily intended for stranded travellers, with priority given to passengers who already hold bookings with either airline.

Air India Express also confirmed that all its scheduled flights to and from Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Kuwait and Riyadh remain cancelled until March 13 due to the ongoing restrictions. Air India's scheduled flights to and from Dammam, Doha and Riyadh will remain suspended until March 10. (ANI)