Air India flights to Israel to remain suspended till May 31 but has scheduled 32 flights on Sunday to various destinations in West Asia

The Slate Bureau

New Delhi: In the backdrop of West Asia conflict, Air India has suspended its flights from New Delhi to Israel till May 31.

The suspension of flights to various destinations in West Asia has been a cause of concern for Indians living in the region. Flights on the Tel Aviv route stand disrupted since the attack on Iran on February 28 with few Israeli carriers operating with severe restrictions.

Indians looking to leave Israel have to go through Jordan or Egypt by entering the two countries through the land route.

In what gives relief to Indians stranded in the region, Air India and Air India Express will together operate 32 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the West Asia region on Sunday.

This includes 12 non-scheduled flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), subject to availability of slots and other prevailing conditions at the departure stations at the time.

These flights are being operated with the requisite permissions from the relevant Indian and local regulatory authorities in the UAE, the Air India group said in a statement.

All Air India flights to and from North America, Europe, Australia and other regions continue to operate per schedule, it added.

The group said the guests booked to travel on any of the routes where Air India group’s scheduled services remain temporarily suspended may conveniently rebook to a future date at no additional charge or opt for a full refund.

Air India Express guests booked to travel from any station in the UAE can conveniently rebook their flights without additional charges on Air India Express' additional commercial flights operating from any UAE station to any destination in India.

Air India and Air India Express are proactively reaching out to impacted guests using the mobile numbers registered with the airline to provide rebooking options. Guests are requested to ensure their current and active mobile numbers are updated with the airline to receive these important notifications.

The Air India group said it was exploring every opportunity to operate other additional ad-hoc flights to and from various destinations in West Asia.

(With inputs from PTI)