Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express cut flights as fuel costs surge

MAjor amerind carriers, including beam republic of india, indigo plant and broadcast India Express, will reduce domestic flight operations starting June amid rising fuel costs, softer seasonal demand and operational pressures linked to the West Asia conflict, officials familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.Air India will cut around 22% of its domestic flights from next month, officials said. The airline had earlier reduced about 27% of its international operations.The reductions come amid a sharp rise in aviation turbine fuel prices following the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which has increased operating costs for airlines. Indian carriers have also faced longer flying times and higher expenses because of the continued closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian airlines.Air India, which reported a record annual loss of more than $2 billion in 2025-26, said the latest cuts were part of a temporary network rationalisation exercise.“In continuation of our previously announced adjustments to select international services between June and August 2026, we have temporarily rationalised operations on certain domestic routes during the same period, with a reduction in frequencies on select routes. These adjustments are driven by the sustained impact of high fuel prices on overall operations. Air India will continue to monitor demand and operating conditions closely, with a view to restoring frequencies as conditions stabilise,” an Air India spokesperson said.“Passengers impacted by these changes will be assisted with re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary date changes, or full refunds, as applicable,” the spokesperson added.Air India currently operates around 3,600 domestic flights every week.Officials also said Air India Express would reduce some domestic frequencies, though the impact would remain below 10%.“We have been progressively restoring connectivity between India and West Asia, and also introducing new routes across our domestic and international network, while making calibrated adjustments to optimise our network and align capacity with changes in demand. The impact on domestic frequencies is less than 10%,” an Air India Express spokesperson said.The airline currently operates around 500 weekly flights between India and West Asia, up from around 280 a few weeks ago, and more than 3,000 weekly flights across its wider domestic and international network, the spokesperson added.IndiGo is also expected to trim domestic operations by around 10-13% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, officials said.