IndiGo’s entire fleet of widebody aircraft, comprising six Boeing 787s that flew to several international destinations, including London, Manchester and Amsterdam, has been grounded from the start of the Iran-Israel war last Saturday (February 28, 2026), as the aircraft the Indian airline has loaned from the Norwegian carrier Norse cannot fly over West Asian countries due to a European advisory, sources said.
While Indian carriers, including Air India, Air India Express, and SpiceJet continue to fly to Oman and carry out restricted flying to parts of the UAE, including Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Al Fujairah, and retain access to Saudi airspace, a European aviation advisory has imposed a blanket ban on its airlines against overflying as many as 11 countries in the region, which by extension means IndiGo cannot use Norse’s aircraft while transiting through the banned air corridor.
Read: Iran-Israel war LIVE
The disruption is compounded by Pakistan’s continued closure of its airspace to aircraft operated by Indian airlines, leaving IndiGo with no viable route as it is restricted from flying over not one but two of the key airspace corridors connecting Europe and the U.S. to Asia.
The last IndiGo flight to a European destination flew from Mumbai to Amsterdam on February 28, before the European advisory came into effect — it departed at 5 a.m. local time, and landed at 11.30 a.m. local time, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
IndiGo operates flights to London and Manchester from Delhi and Mumbai, and a Mumbai- Amsterdam service with varied weekly frequencies. It recently terminated its flights to Copenhagen citing geo-political circumstances as well as the need for building reliable operations.
Five hours later on the same day, a Delhi-London flight had to take a U-turn mid-flight over Oman and return to Delhi as Iran and Iraq had were launching air strikes against each other.
IndiGo’s last Mumbai-London flight was on February 27; last Delhi-Manchester flight was on February 26; and last Manchester-Mumbai flight was February 24. Its services to Copenhagen were terminated in February.
Under an advisory issued on February 28, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has stated European airlines cannot fly over West Asia.
The EASA Conflict Zone Information Bulletin identifies 11 countries in West Asia, including Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Saudi Arabia as areas of “high risk” due to military activities, and requires airlines regulated by it to “not operate within the affected airspace at all flight levels and altitudes”.
IndiGo did not reply to a query emailed to it on the matter till the time of going to press. They were engaging with Norse to restore flights at the earliest, an official of the airline said.
IndiGo’s flights to Athens, which it operates using A321 XLRs under Indian registration, are also grounded due to the twin airspace restrictions.
Air India is not subject to the European advisory, as the Boeing 777s, 787s and Airbus A350s it operates on these routes are registered in India, and the airline has since started taking a more southerly routing, avoiding Iran and overflying Oman and Saudi Arabia for its flights to Europe and North America.
European carriers, including Lufthansa, meanwhile, are able to comply with the advisory by rerouting flights to overfly Pakistan instead of the Iranian airspace. That option, however, is unavailable to Indian airlines due to the reciprocal airspace restrictions between India and Pakistan since April 2025.
IndiGo took six Boeing 787s in early 2025 on damp lease (leased aircraft along with pilots, some cabin crew, and engineering staff) from Norse to facilitate its Europe entry from July 2025 onwards.
While IndiGo grapples with mounting airspace constraints, Air India has been ramping up its capacity to Europe and Canada, including by taking a fuel stop in Vienna and Rome. It also plans to mount additional flights by removing aircraft from certain eastern destinations, as “demand for travel via hubs such as Dubai and Doha has taken a hit”, a senior Air India official said. Air India recently added three more Delhi-Toronto flights to its regular flight schedule, and it is also adding three Delhi-Frankfurt flights and one Delhi-Paris flights.
Published – March 05, 2026 10:37 pm IST
