Indigo Restarts Jeddah Flights, Air India Express Returns to Muscat. UAE Still Blocked

(MUSCAT) — Air India Express resumed flights to and from Muscat on March 3, 2026, as Indian carriers cautiously restarted limited Middle East operations while major Gulf hubs stayed shut amid a regional airspace crisis linked to US-Israel attacks on Iran.

IndiGo also moved to bring passengers home, announcing special relief operations from Jeddah on March 3, 2026, as authorities and airlines worked through approvals and shifting airspace conditions.

The partial restart left large parts of the Gulf map off-limits for Indian scheduled services, forcing carriers to concentrate on a smaller set of routes where operations became possible without entering restricted airspace.

The disruption began after attacks on Iran by the US and Israel that started on February 28, 2026, triggering widespread Middle East airspace closures and leaving airlines to adjust schedules, routings, and aircraft positions in real time.

By Monday, March 2, roughly 357 flights were canceled to and from West Asia, a snapshot of how sharply the crisis hit travel demand and operational planning across the region.

Country-level cancellation rates underscored the uneven impact, with 74.44% in the UAE, 81.68% in Qatar, 96.67% in Bahrain, and 22.64% in Oman, reflecting where airports and corridors remained constrained or reopened.

In Muscat on Tuesday, Air India Express restarted its Oman links, reactivating a key point for Indian travelers and for connecting movements as other Gulf hubs remained closed.

The airline’s scheduled services from Muscat cover Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai, and Tiruchirappalli, providing a set of options that carriers and passengers could still use to move between India and the region.

Air India Express’ first departing flight from Muscat left for Tiruchirappalli at 10:25 local time on March 3, a marker of the day’s restart after the earlier halt across multiple Middle East points.

Operations from Muscat were set to continue on March 4, with Air India Express maintaining scheduled flights to and from the Omani capital while also adding flights to Delhi, Kochi, and Mumbai as the airline rebuilt capacity.

Even with Muscat back on the board, Air India Express kept a wider suspension in place for several nearby destinations, signaling that the restart remained selective rather than systemwide.

Flights to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates remained suspended until 23:59 hours IST on March 4, 2026, maintaining limits on travel through some of the largest Gulf markets and transit points.

The continued block on those hubs meant passengers faced a patchwork of available routes, with airlines weighing where they could operate safely and legally amid closures and rapidly changing restrictions.

IndiGo’s relief plan focused on Jeddah, where it announced special operations meant to facilitate the return of stranded passengers, tying airline action to consular coordination and government oversight.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation indicated IndiGo planned 10 special relief operations, presenting the effort as a structured response rather than ad hoc flights.

Separate references from sources pointed to four dedicated return flights operating to Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad, highlighting that the number and exact pattern of services depended on operational clearances and conditions.

IndiGo’s relief operations remained subject to required approvals and prevailing airspace conditions, a constraint that can shape departure slots, routings, and the feasibility of operating within narrow windows.

The carrier coordinated with the Consulate General of India at Jeddah for passenger facilitation, linking airline scheduling to on-the-ground arrangements that can determine who boards and how quickly travelers reach airports.

Alongside IndiGo and Air India Express, other Indian airlines adjusted their Middle East plans as the airspace crisis forced a broader reshuffling of capacity and destinations.

Akasa Air said it would operate select flights to and from Jeddah on March 3 and March 4 after completing a comprehensive safety review, adding another limited channel for travel where operations could proceed.

Akasa Air kept flights to Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait, and Riyadh suspended until March 4, 2026, a sign that key Gulf points remained difficult to serve even as some corridors reopened.

SpiceJet, for its part, operated special charter flights from Fujairah to Delhi, Mumbai, and Kochi, using a mix of non-scheduled services to move passengers while normal networks stayed disrupted.

SpiceJet also planned to resume scheduled flights between Fujairah and Delhi and Mumbai on March 4, extending the theme of incremental restoration rather than an immediate return to full timetables.

The spread of destinations involved in these changes illustrated how the crisis extended beyond the best-known hubs, touching secondary airports and alternative entry points that airlines could use when primary corridors remained closed.

Airlines across India faced the task of restoring connectivity while ensuring aircraft, crews, and passengers were positioned where they were needed, a logistical challenge compounded by sudden route closures.

India’s Civil Aviation Ministry said Indian airlines undertook calibrated adjustments as they managed the disruption and began restoring services, reflecting an approach that favored gradual changes over sweeping network announcements.

Long-haul and ultra-long-haul operations progressively resumed through alternative routings that avoided restricted airspace, the ministry said, as carriers sought paths that could keep aircraft moving despite closed corridors.

The ministry also said airlines began repositioning aircraft and crew to restore operational stability, a behind-the-scenes process that can dictate how quickly schedules can return even after airspace restrictions ease.

That repositioning effort matters because aircraft and crew often end up away from their planned bases during wide disruptions, and rebalancing them can take multiple flight cycles even when demand and slots exist.

For passengers, the day’s announcements translated into a narrow set of immediate options, with Muscat emerging as an operating point for Air India Express and Jeddah becoming a focal point for IndiGo’s relief flying.

The decisions also showed how Indian carriers relied on a combination of scheduled flights, additional flights, and charters to meet demand while keeping flexibility to cancel, reroute, or add services as approvals and airspace conditions changed.

The persistence of suspensions to several Gulf destinations indicated that travel plans involving major transit points still faced hard constraints, even as airlines found limited ways to connect travelers through routes that remained workable.

In practical terms, the partial restart meant airlines could begin reducing passenger backlogs on certain city pairs, while large volumes of travelers linked to UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar continued to face uncertainty until restrictions lifted.

The evolving network also highlighted the role of government coordination during large regional disruptions, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation outlining the overall approach and consular officials supporting facilitation where relief operations became necessary.

Tuesday’s limited resumption by IndiGo and Air India Express, anchored by Muscat services and Jeddah relief flying, underscored how India’s aviation sector began stitching back routes one corridor at a time as the Middle East airspace crisis continued to block key Gulf hubs.