- Air India Group operated 58 daily flights to West Asia including 36 ad-hoc UAE-India relief rotations.
- Scheduled services were restricted to Jeddah and Muscat while other regional routes faced temporary suspensions.
- Passengers can rebook at no charge from any UAE station to any Indian destination to bypass disruptions.
(UAE) — Air India Group operated 58 flights to West Asia on March 12, 2026, including 36 ad-hoc UAE-to-India relief rotations, as West Asia disruptions strained travel plans for passengers trying to reach India.
Air India Group’s March 12 operations kept scheduled services running only to Jeddah and Muscat while using extra flights from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah to move passengers to Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kochi.
Air India and Air India Express began expanding UAE–India relief flights on March 9, 2026, adding services as wider disruptions across West Asia continued to affect normal travel patterns and left many travelers relying on last-minute changes.
On March 9, the group operated 24 scheduled flights to Jeddah and Muscat and ran 32 non-scheduled flights focused on helping passengers in the UAE get back to India.
Air India’s March 9 operational update said the extra UAE services included Air India non-scheduled flights to and from Dubai from Delhi and Mumbai, while Air India Express added flights linking Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah with Indian cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kochi.
The group also said those temporary additions supported passengers affected by cancellations elsewhere in West Asia, as airlines and airports adjusted to shifting operating conditions in the region.
Air India said in its March 9 notice that scheduled operations to and from other points in West Asia were cancelled until March 13, 2026, leaving Jeddah and Muscat as the only West Asia points where scheduled service continued during the disruption.
That suspension raised the importance of recovery capacity in the UAE, where multiple airports served as practical staging points for passengers who could no longer travel on their original routes.
Air India’s follow-up update on March 10, 2026, showed the disruption continued. The group said it would operate 58 total scheduled and non-scheduled flights on March 11, including 36 ad-hoc flights to and from the UAE, while continuing scheduled services to Jeddah and Muscat.
By March 12, Air India Group again ran 58 flights to West Asia, including 36 ad-hoc flights from UAE airports to India, keeping the expanded UAE–India relief flights at the center of its response to West Asia disruptions.
The operational picture across those dates reflected a pattern of maintaining a narrow band of scheduled routes while adding flexible point-to-point capacity where passengers could still be moved, particularly between the UAE and India.
Air India Express operated UAE relief flights using Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo aircraft, according to the information provided on the expanded services.
Dubai played a central role in the effort, handling 10 extra rotations to Mumbai and Delhi alone as the group worked to clear backlogs and keep passengers moving.
Air India Express also described UAE airports as recovery points for passengers, a role that became more prominent as cancellations and suspensions limited normal connections to other West Asia destinations.
Rebooking policies formed a core part of the response, with Air India Express saying UAE passengers with active bookings could rebook onto additional commercial flights from any UAE station to any destination in India without additional charges.
The policy applied broadly, with no charges for changes to any UAE–India flight, including rebookings that involved alternate airports or cities.
Air India said passengers booked on cancelled routes could rebook at no extra charge or request a full refund.
Refund access included a 24/7 contact center and WhatsApp AI “Tia”, giving travelers multiple options to adjust plans during the period of unstable schedules and shifting capacity.
The airline also said fares were capped per India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), as carriers faced scrutiny over pricing during a period of disrupted travel patterns.
While the UAE–India corridor carried the bulk of the short-haul recovery flying, the group kept other parts of its network operating, drawing a line between disruption in West Asia and continuity elsewhere.
Air India’s March 10 notice said flights to and from North America, Europe, Australia, and several other regions continued as scheduled, and it added additional services on some long-haul corridors.
The approach left travelers on suspended West Asia routes dependent on workarounds, including reaching India via UAE airports that still had active departures and arriving at alternate Indian cities if their original destination had no available seats.
Air India Express gave an example of how substitutions worked in practice, allowing a passenger booked on a cancelled Dubai–Jaipur service to move instead to a Ras Al Khaimah–Delhi flight at no additional cost.
Such substitutions carried practical implications for travelers whose plans depended on specific arrival points, including people attempting to meet time-sensitive needs such as visa validity, job rejoining, academic travel, and family emergencies.
The disruption also coincided with broader regional flight cancellations across West Asia. The information provided said ~3,400 flights were canceled March 1 across West Asia, with 11 states’ airspace closed post-US/Israel strikes on Iran.
It also said over 21,000 flights were canceled by early March, stranding thousands, including Indian expatriates facing visa grace periods.
DGCA advisories added another operational constraint, with the information provided saying airlines would avoid 11 airspaces until at least March 2 (extended), while the regulator monitored fares to prevent surges.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu coordinated rerouting, according to the information provided, as airlines sought alternative routings and attempted to keep aircraft and crews positioned to operate the flights still allowed.
The expansion of UAE–India relief flights also required coordination on airport access. The information provided said Indian consular officials in Dubai noted fast-tracked UAE slot approvals, a factor that can shape how quickly airlines can add rotations at busy airports.
Air India Group also planned additional capacity beyond the initial surge, with the information provided stating 78 extra flights were planned March 10-18 across 9 routes.
The combination of extra flights, capped fares and expanded rebooking options created a system that relied on flexible routing and open seat availability, rather than restoring every canceled city-pair on its original schedule.
For passengers, the most workable strategy during the disruption often meant focusing on operating city-pairs rather than the airport printed on the original ticket, since the group’s additions emphasized getting travelers from any UAE station to any reachable destination in India.
That flexibility also mattered for people who needed to travel at short notice, including workers on limited leave windows and students attempting to align flights with academic schedules, since changes in departure airport or arrival city can alter onward travel time and paperwork planning.
The information provided also pointed to digital options outside airline channels, noting UAE visa extensions via digital platforms for prolonged stays during disruptions that extend beyond a traveler’s original itinerary.
Even with added rotations, capacity remained shaped by operational limits. The information provided told travelers to check airline apps and sites for real-time status given crew limits and slot constraints, an issue that can affect the timing and reliability of ad-hoc flying.
Air India said it continued monitoring the situation and directed travelers to updates at Air India travel updates, as the group maintained scheduled service to Jeddah and Muscat and kept the UAE–India relief flights running alongside broader efforts to stabilize its network.
For many passengers caught up in West Asia disruptions, the March 9 to March 12 sequence underscored how quickly normal routings can narrow, and how much the outcome can depend on the ability to shift airports, accept alternate Indian destinations, and secure seats on the ad-hoc UAE–India relief flights assembled by Air India Group.
