West Asia crisis: 1,500 flights cancelled in four days, Air India to add capacity on key long routes

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MUMBAI: Airlines have stepped up evacuation efforts with more special flights as the crisis in the Middle East continued to disrupt air travel for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday.Up to Tuesday, 1,221 international flights by Indian carriers and 388 by foreign carriers were cancelled, the civil aviation ministry said. It said Indian carriers had planned 58 flights to be operated on Wednesday, which included 30 by IndiGo and 23 by Air India and Air India Express. IndiGo has been among the worst-affected carriers, cancelling over 500 flights since Feb 28, according to a disclosure it made to the stock exchange on Wednesday.

Amid surging passenger demand, Air India announced it is increasing capacity on key long-haul routes, including services to Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris.The airline said the extra flights are intended to offer flyers greater flexibility and smoother connections through Delhi to destinations across its domestic and SE Asian network.Air Canada has scheduled an additional frequency between Toronto and Delhi between March 7 and March 21. The Canadian carrier will also deploy a larger aircraft on its Toronto-London-Mumbai route to accommodate higher passenger loads.Indian airlines continue select services to West AsiaOther Indian airlines, including Akasa Air, SpiceJet and IndiGo, are continuing to operate select services to destinations across West Asia.Airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are currently managing only limited repatriation flights. Meanwhile, passenger services at Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait airports remain suspended.Emirates and Air Arabia confirmed on Wednesday that all regularly scheduled flights to and from Dubai will stay suspended until midnight Saturday. Emirates posted on X that passengers affected by recent cancellations could send them a direct message on X, phone the airline only if they are in need of urgent assistance and when they do so, expect a wait on hold for up to 2-3 hours. Passengers can request a refund for their booking if it is on or before March 12 without contacting the airline, it said.On February 28, day one of the disruption, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued an advisory to all Indian carriers asking them to avoid airspace in high-risk zones including Tehran, Tel Aviv, Beirut, Jeddah, Bahrain, Muscat, Baghdad, Amman, Kuwait and Doha.