Gulf Conflict Grounds 12,000+ India Flights |

Care to share?

Over 12,000 Indian flights to the Gulf and foreign carriers’ flights to India have been canceled, showing the huge impact the ongoing conflict in the Gulf is having on Indian airlines’ operations and foreign carriers’ operations to India.

Hindustan Times, a leading English newspaper in India, quoted unnamed officials as telling the newspaper that between February 28 and April 5, Indian airlines canceled “10,341 flights while foreign airlines canceled 2,177 flights.” The newspaper did not give a breakdown of which Indian or foreign airline canceled how many flights.

The conflict in the region began on February 28 with the US and Israel hitting targets in Iran. Iran has retaliated by targeting US interests in the Gulf region, thereby affecting the operations of Indian airlines serving the Gulf and of foreign airlines operating to and from India from the Middle East, Europe, and the US.

The newspaper report adds that on Sunday, Indian airlines canceled 284 flights, which affected over a million passengers. Foreign airlines generally fly over the current conflict zone on their flights to and from India.

Closure of Pakistan airspace a double whammy for Indian airlines

What adds to the woes of Indian airlines is that Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian-registered aircraft, forcing them to take a longer route to reach the Gulf. In the normal course, Indian airlines fly over Pakistan airspace, which is the shortest route to many Gulf countries from India.

Pakistan shut its airspace for Indian registered aircraft in April last year as tension mounted between the two neighbors. The airspace remains shut to date. This restriction, however, does not apply to foreign airlines flying to and from India. With the conflict still ongoing in the Gulf region, many popular air routes are closed to civil traffic. Indian airlines are operating a mix of scheduled and non- scheduled flights to the war zone. Major Indian airlines, including Air India and IndiGo, provide near-daily updates on their operations to the Gulf region.

India has a huge diaspora in the Gulf region

In 2025, the Indian Parliament was informed that there were around 15 million Indian nationals abroad, including unskilled workers, skilled workers, and professionals. A large number of skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers from India are employed in various sectors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.

The Parliament was informed that there were estimated to be 670,000 Indians in Oman, over 1 million in Kuwait, over 27 million in Saudi Arabia, and over 43 million in the United Arab Emirates. The current conflict has seen Dubai in the UAE being targeted by Iranian drones and missiles. Other countries in the region have also been targeted by Iranian drones and missiles.

European carriers ramp up services to India despite conflict

On Monday, Virgin Atlantic announced that it is increasing services between London Heathrow and Bengaluru (Bangalore), India’s IT hub, from 11 to 13 flights per week from June 1 this year through to the end of the summer season, marking a significant step towards double-daily operations on the route. The airline also operates double daily from Heathrow to the Indian capital, Delhi, and India’s financial capital, Mumbai.

India represents the largest market for the British airline outside the United States