Air India Express will resume flights to and from Muscat starting Tuesday (March 3, 2026), with scheduled services to Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Amid continued flight disruptions to the Gulf region, IndiGo will operate 10 special relief flights from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to India on Tuesday (March 3, 2026) to facilitate the return of stranded passengers, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Air India Express will also resume services to Muscat, Oman, operating six flights from various Indian cities.
The United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation regulator also announced “exceptional flights” from Monday (March 2, 2026) evening to repatriate stranded passengers, prompting Dubai and Abu Dhabi-based airlines to restart a limited number of flights.
“Special arrangements are being made to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers. Airlines are deploying additional capacity where required and coordinating closely with foreign aviation authorities and Indian missions abroad to ensure safe and orderly passenger movement,” the Ministry said after a review meeting chaired by Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu and attended by Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha and senior officials.
Air India Express will resume flights to and from Muscat starting Tuesday (March 3, 2026), with scheduled services to Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai and Tiruchirappalli. However, its operations to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain suspended until 11:59 p.m. IST on March 3. Indian airlines cancelled 357 flights to the Gulf region on Monday (March 2, 2026), following 350 cancellations on Sunday (March 1, 2026). Foreign carriers operating between India and the Gulf were also expected to conduct limited services.
“The General Civil Aviation Authority has announced the commencement of exceptional flight operations at UAE airports, enabling stranded passengers affected by the recent regional developments to depart,” the UAE’s aviation regulator said in a post on X.
Dubai-based Emirates and Flydubai, along with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, announced a limited resumption of flights, while advising passengers not to proceed to airports unless contacted by the airlines.
Air India said it was extending the suspension of its West Asia services till midnight Tuesday (March 3, 2026), but it resumed most of its European operations and all flights to the United States and Canada from Monday (March 2, 2026). The airline is rerouting most services via Oman, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and has introduced a fuel stop at Rome on two U.S. routes.
On Monday (March 2, 2026), Air India reinstated most of the 48 return flights to North America and Europe that it had cancelled a day earlier, except the Amritsar–Birmingham, Delhi–Zurich and Delhi–Copenhagen routes.
“All other flights to North America and Europe will operate as scheduled using alternative routings over available airspace in the Middle East, which is expected to add to the flying times,” Air India said in a post on X. Its flights to Newark and New York from Delhi and Mumbai will now include a fuel stop at Rome.
The airline has also been rerouting several North America–bound services via Vienna following the closure of Pakistan’s airspace since April 2025. These include flights from Delhi to Chicago, Toronto and Washington. Its San Francisco services from Mumbai and Bengaluru are also operating with a technical fuel stop at Kolkata.
Published – March 02, 2026 11:32 pm IST
