A MAJOR international airline is suspending flights to Washington, D.C. following a costly airspace ban.
The surprise move will force international visitors to have additional layovers when flying to the United States.
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Air India has announced that it will suspend services between New Delhi and Washington, D.C.
The pause means there are no flights between the two capital cities by an Indian airline.
The decision comes as the airline’s bosses “continue to address the aftermath of the fatal crash of flight AI 171 in June,” reported Aviation Week.
Passengers will be affected from September 1 “until at least the end of 2026,” said Air India.
It revealed on Monday, “Air India today announced the suspension of its services between Delhi and Washington, D.C., effective September 1, 2025.”
The airline attributed the break “to a combination of operational factors, to ensure the reliability and integrity of Air India’s overall route network.”
It advised passengers they could instead choose flights to Washington, D.C., with layovers in New York, Newark, Chicago and San Francisco with the airline’s partners Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The operational pause is “primarily driven by the planned shortfall in Air India’s fleet,” it said.
This is due to the airline starting the retrofitting of 26 Boeing 787-8 planes last month.
This extensive program will result in “prolonged unavailability of multiple aircraft at any given time until at least end of 2026,” the airline said.
It added, “Customers with Air India bookings to or from Washington, D.C. beyond September 1, 2025 will be contacted and offered alternative travel arrangements.”
This includes re-booking on other flights or receiving “full refunds, as per their individual preferences.”
While its planes won’t be seen in Washington, D.C., for more than a year, Air India confirmed that it will continue to operate non-stop flights between India and six destinations in North America, including Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.
Its decision to halt the Washington service comes after Pakistan shut its airspace to India’s carrier in a tit-for-tat retaliation following an attack in Kashmir in April.
The suspension also comes as Air India is under regulatory scrutiny after the horrific June crash of one of its Boeing planes in Ahmedabad killed 270 people.
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area.
India Airlines said its Boeing retrofit program, “coupled with the continued closure of airspace over Pakistan, impacts the airline’s long-haul operations, leading to longer flight routings and increased operational complexity.”
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AIRSPACE BAN
India and Pakistan closed their airspaces to each other days after relations nosedived following a fatal attack on civilians in Indian Kashmir.
Its nuclear-armed neighbour banned Indian airlines from flying over its territory following the killing of 26 men by gunmen in Kashmir.
Days later, India shut its airspace to Pakistani airlines.
New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for the April attack – which Islamabad denies.
Pakistan and India intensified their hostilities over the hotly contested Kashmir region following the massacre of 26 mostly Indian tourists.
Air India warned it expected to face around $600 million in additional costs if the airspace ban from Pakistan lasted for a year, reported Reuters, citing a company letter.
Air India, a Tata Group-owned airline which has a 26.5% market share in India, flies to Europe, the United States and Canada, often crossing Pakistan’s airspace.
TARIFFS
The suspension also comes amid rising tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariffs on Indian imports.
Trump vowed earlier this month to slug an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil despite evil Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.
This brings the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50%. India slated the additional tariffs as “unfortunate.”
