Air India has announced the gradual return of its international schedule following a month-long “Safety Pause” triggered by the tragic AI171 incident in June. The airline confirmed that from 1 August, several routes will see restored or increased frequencies, while others, especially to Australia, will remain below pre-June levels until at least October.
The Safety Pause was introduced to carry out additional inspections on the airline’s Boeing 787 fleet and to adjust for longer flying times caused by airspace restrictions across Pakistan and parts of the Middle East. The grounding impacted a wide swathe of Air India’s long-haul network, including flights to Europe, North America, Asia, and Australasia.
While services to Europe and Japan are set to ramp up from August, the carrier has opted to keep both its Australian routes, Delhi to Melbourne and Delhi to Sydney, reduced at five flights per week each, compared to the usual seven. The decision may disappoint travellers, especially with August marking the tail end of Australia’s winter travel season and the build-up to festival travel demand from the Indian diaspora.
“We know this affects a lot of families and business travellers between India and Australia,” said an Air India spokesperson. “This schedule is temporary, and we’re working towards full restoration by October.”
The restoration is being done in phases. Key routes like Delhi to London (Heathrow) have already returned to their full 24-weekly frequency, while Zurich and Tokyo will see more services from 1 August. In contrast, some North American routes, such as Delhi to Chicago and Washington, will remain well below their usual frequency.
A notable shift is the reconfiguration of the Ahmedabad–London service. From August to September, flights will run three times a week into Heathrow instead of Gatwick, replacing the previous five-weekly service. Meanwhile, flights from Amritsar and Delhi to Birmingham, as well as from Delhi to Milan and Paris, will continue on reduced schedules into September.
In total, the airline will operate over 525 international flights weekly across 63 routes during this transitional period. Several services suspended during the Safety Pause remain off the board entirely until the end of September, including Amritsar–London (Gatwick), Goa–London (Gatwick), and Bengaluru–Singapore.
Air India says it is actively reaching out to impacted passengers, offering rebookings or refunds, depending on traveller preference. Travellers holding bookings for August or September are advised to check their itineraries for updates.
While the Safety Pause was a response to real safety concerns and logistical hurdles, it also reveals the broader challenge of maintaining global schedules amid a fragile aviation ecosystem. For Australians with ties to India, the reduced capacity will mean tighter availability during peak travel months. As the airline works to return to normalcy, the hope is that by October, routes will stabilise, and connections between the two countries will be fully restored.
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