Air India and IndiGo Halt Flights as Iran-Israel Conflict Escalates

India’s two largest international carriers, Air India and IndiGo, have extended widespread flight suspensions for a second consecutive day on March 2, 2026, due to ongoing hostilities centered around Iran and the resulting closure of significant portions of Middle Eastern airspace. The disruptions are impacting travel to and from key destinations in the region and beyond.

Flight Suspensions and Impacted Routes

Air India has confirmed that all services to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel remain grounded until 23:59 IST on Monday. This network-wide pause has also affected routes to Europe. Nonstop flights from Delhi and Mumbai to London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Vienna—as well as sectors onward to Toronto—have been canceled as revised routings around the Gulf have pushed crew duty limits beyond regulatory thresholds.

IndiGo, which typically operates over 65 daily round-trips to the Gulf region, has canceled 162 Middle East services and scrapped long-haul flights to London, Amsterdam, and Manchester.

Challenges with Re-Accommodation

Both airlines have stated that re-accommodation options are severely limited. Alternative routings via the Red Sea add up to three hours of flight time and necessitate technical stops for narrow-body aircraft.

Visa Support for Detours

For travelers needing transit or entry documents for unexpected detours, VisaHQ offers streamlined processing of Indian eVisas and transit permits for alternative hubs such as Muscat, Nairobi, and Tbilisi, providing real-time tracking and expert support.

Impact on Corporate Travel

The disruption comes at a critical time for corporate travel, coinciding with India’s fiscal-year-end closing, which drives a seasonal surge in short-notice travel by finance, audit, and project-management teams. Multinationals have activated split-site contingencies, redirecting staff via alternative hubs, and are advising travelers to build in 48-hour buffers around meetings.

Travel Advice

Passengers are advised to check flight status on airline apps before heading to the airport, anticipate long queues at refund desks, and retain boarding passes and emails as evidence for duty-of-care and travel-insurance claims. Domestic connections within India are operating normally, but minimum connection times have been extended by an hour to accommodate potential delays.

Recent Developments

On Tuesday morning, Air India brought back 149 stranded passengers from Dubai on flight AI916D. Air India has deployed wide-body aircraft with higher passenger capacity on its services to Jeddah and Dubai to facilitate the return of stranded passengers.

Thousands of Indian citizens remain stranded in Tehran and other parts of Iran as the conflict disrupts airspace and commercial flights.