Air India and its low-cost arm Air India Express will operate a total of 48 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the Middle East on Monday, as the region continues to face heavy airspace restrictions due to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict. According to a release, the airlines will run their regular services to Jeddah and Muscat, including ten direct flights between Indian cities and Jeddah. Air India will deploy one return service each from Delhi and Mumbai, while Air India Express will operate one flight each from Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Mangalore.
Expanded Muscat operations amid turbulence
Air India Express is also set to run 12 scheduled services to and from Muscat, with one flight each from Delhi, Kannur, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, along with two flights from Kochi. This expanded schedule comes even as multiple airlines trim operations due to tighter airspace availability. Earlier in the day, IndiGo announced that restrictions in Dubai had further disrupted flight movements, affecting services between March 15 and 17.
Longer flight paths force DGCA to ease rules
With both Iranian and Iraqi airspace partially closed, Air India has been diverting its European and North American flights via Egypt, resulting in significantly longer flying times. Amid this, the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has offered temporary relaxations in Flight Duty Time Limitations for Air India's long-haul operations until April 30, news agency PTI reported citing sources.
According to officials, the regulator has extended the maximum Flight Time by 1.30 hours to 11.30 hours and the Flight Duty Period by 1.45 hours to 11.45 hours for flights operated with two pilots. The 30-minute roster planning buffer has also been temporarily waived.
Concerns over alleged FDTL breaches
Sources have claimed that Air India is overshooting even the relaxed limits on certain routes. They allege that the airline is roster planning its Jeddah service with an FDP of 11.55 hours, exceeding the permitted relaxation by ten minutes. "While flight duty period (FDP) has been extended by 1.45 hours, Air India is forcing its pilots to operate Jeddah flight, which has an FDP of 11.55 hours, thus exceeding the allowed relaxations by 10-minutes," the sources added.
