After a short period of uncertainty that stranded air passengers, India and West Asia-based airlines on Tuesday reinstated flights between the two regions, following the removal of airspace restrictions over several Gulf countries.

Just before midnight on Tuesday, India-based airlines suspended all flight operations to West Asia and beyond following Iran’s military strikes on US bases in the Gulf region.

The flight operations were reinstated after a truce was announced between Iran, Israel, and the USs, this prompted the revocation of airspace suspension over several Gulf countries.

Accordingly, the development led Air India to “progressively resume flights” to the region starting on June 24, with most operations to and from West Asia resuming from June 25.

“Flights to and from Europe, previously cancelled, are also being progressively reinstated from today, while services to and from the East Coast of the US and Canada will resume at the earliest opportunity,” said an Air India spokesperson.

“Some flights may experience delays or cancellations due to consequential impacts and extended re-routings or flight times, but we are committed to minimising disruptions and restoring our schedule integrity.”

The spokesperson said that Air India will continue to avoid airspaces assessed as unsafe at any given time.

On Tuesday night, airlines were busy diverting jets or calling back flights to West Asia.

At that time, Air India diverted its India-bound flights from North America back to their respective origins, while other flights were either returned back India or rerouted away from the closed airspaces.

Besides, an Air India Express spokesperson said that the airline’s first flight to the region was on the Delhi-Muscat route, followed by services on the Mumbai-Muscat, Kozhikode-Muscat, Kozhikode-Riyadh and Jaipur-Jeddah routes.

“Air India Express flights to and from key cities in the UAE — including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, and Ras Al Khaimah — as well as other cities in West Asia, are scheduled from tomorrow,” the spokesperson said.

Furthermore, airline major IndiGo, in a travel advisory, said that as airports across the region gradually reopen, “we are prudently and progressively resuming operations on these routes.”

“We continue to monitor the situation closely and are fully considering the safest available flight paths to ensure secure and seamless travel.“

Similarly, following the truce, West Asia-based airlines slowly started to reinstate flights to and from the area.

Airline major Qatar Airways on Tuesday confirmed reinstatement of flights as airspace reopens in Qatar.

“Our focus at this time is to help our passengers return home or reach their onward journey safely and smoothly,” the airline said.

“We’ve deployed extra ground staff at Hamad International Airport to support you as we resume operations.”

According to Emirates Airlines, due to the recent regional situation, a number of its flights were rerouted en route to Dubai on June 23, “but there were no diversions”.

“After a thorough and careful risk assessment, Emirates will continue to operate flights as scheduled, using flight paths well distanced from conflict areas,” the airline said.

“Some flights may incur delays due to longer re-routings or airspace congestion, but Emirates’ teams are working hard to keep to schedule and minimise any disruption or inconvenience to our customers.”

However, despite the reinstatement of flights, stranded passengers in the region had to wait hours before catching their onward connections.

At present, the West Asia houses several key global transit hubs in Doha and Dubai, which are home bases of Qatar Airways and Emirates Airlines respectively. Millions of passengers transit across the globe using these hubs.

These airlines also serve the vast Indian diaspora in the region.

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Published on June 24, 2025