Air India partially restores paused services one month after fatal crash

Air India has announced details of services that will be partially restored following the “safety pause” after last month’s fatal crash.

 

A total of 241 passengers and crew died on June 12 when one of the airline’s Boeing 787 crashed shortly after leaving Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport in Ahmedabad. Flight AI171 had been bound for Gatwick and was carrying 53 British passengers.

 

Air India had suspended several services “to perform additional precautionary checks on its Boeing 787 aircraft as well as accommodating longer flying times arising from airspace closures over Pakistan and the Middle East”.

 

The carrier said the partial resumption will see restoration of some frequencies from August 1, with full restoration planned from October 1.

 

From August 1-September 30, the airline will operate three flights a week between Ahmedabad and Heathrow, replacing the five flights a week between Ahmedabad and Gatwick.

 

Delhi-Heathrow will see the return of two weekly flights that previously been paused, so it will be operating all its 24 flights a week from July 16 onwards.

 

Other curtailed services from Delhi to Zurich, Tokyo and Seoul, will also be reinstated.

 

Bengaluru-Heathrow – which was reduced from seven times weekly to six weekly – will further reduce to four times weekly, from August 1.

 

Amritsar-Birmingham remains reduced from three times weekly to twice weekly until August 31 and will operate three times weekly from September 1.

 

Delhi-Birmingham remains reduced from three times weekly to twice weekly. Delhi services to Paris, Milan, Vienna, and Amsterdam will also remain reduced or trimmed further.

 

The temporary suspension of Amritsar-Gatwick and Goa-Gatwick will continue until September 30.

 

Other services included in the announcement include those to North America, Asia, Africa and Australia.

 

Air India said it is contacting affected passengers to offer re-booking on alternative flights or a full refund.

 

More: UK airports affected as Air India suspends or cuts long-haul services