Flights remain affected amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which was sparked by a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February.
With hostilities showing no sign of letting up, prominent airlines in the region, including Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways had initially announced suspension of flights but are slowly resuming operations.
The Dubai airport, one of the main aviation hubs in the region, saw a temporary suspension of operations last week, with operations slowly resuming 7 March onwards.
Domestic carriers such as Air India, Akasa Air, IndiGo, and SpiceJet, who saw disruptions in the first few days of the conflict, have also begun to resume limited operations, particularly for repatriation flights.
That said, flight operations in the Middle East remain far from normal, with Indian carriers canceling 279 international flights on Sunday. Repatriation flights, however, are continuing, with Indian carriers operating a total of 49 such flights on Sunday.
Thousands of Indians return home
Passenger movement data on 7 March showed that 51 inbound flights operated by Indian carriers arrived in India from the region carrying 8,175 passengers, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.
What to expect on Monday?
Air India and Air India express are slated to operate a total of 24 scheduled flights to Jeddah and Muscat on Monday, in addition to operating 32 ad-hoc flights from multiple points in the UAE “subject to slot availability, regulatory approvals, and operational conditions”.
Air India also said that to support passengers amid the ongoing situation in West Asia, the carrier will operate 78 additional flights on nine routes between 10 and 18 March.
SpiceJet, meanwhile, is slated to operate at least three flights from Dubai and Fujairah to India on Monday.
While other domestic carriers have yet to release their schedule for Monday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said that as 50 flights were expected to be operated by Indian carriers on Monday.
That said, it should be noted that the situation in the Middle East is volatile, and schedules may be subject to last-minute changes.
As the day unfolds, follow LIVE updates on the flight operations in the Middle East here.
