Air India last week announced a rationalisation of services on select international routes across North America, Europe, Australia, the Far East, South-east Asia and South Asia for the June to August 2026 period. The move includes temporary suspensions on some routes and reduced frequencies on others.
In a statement, the airline said the adjustments are driven by a combination of factors, including ongoing airspace restrictions in some regions and record-high jet fuel costs affecting international operations.
The announcement comes during the summer school holiday period in India, which typically sees a surge in outbound travel demand. Some travel agents expect airfares to rise as a result.
Subhash Goyal, chairman of STIC Travel Group, said: “If the number of available seats decreases while demand remains high, I am sure that the prices for the tickets are likely to increase across all international routes. At the same time, other international airlines may benefit from this situation as passengers may shift to alternate carriers for better connectivity and availability. However, since many foreign airlines also operate with high loads during the summer period, overall market fares may remain high.”
Following the network adjustments, Air India has suspended services on routes including Delhi-Chicago, Delhi-Shanghai, Chennai-Singapore, Mumbai-Dhaka and Delhi-Malé. Frequencies on several other routes have also been reduced, including Delhi-Toronto from 10 to five weekly flights, Delhi-Paris from 14 to seven, Delhi-Sydney from seven to four, and Mumbai-Singapore from 14 to seven.
Sandeep Arora, director of Brightsun Travel, said: “While outbound travel demand from India remains resilient, reduced capacity during summer will lead to increase in airfares, especially for last-minute bookings and premium cabins. We estimate that the impact on leisure customers would be about a 15 per cent increase in airfares while corporate fares could rise by as much as 25 per cent, assuming demand remains unchanged.”
Goyal added that higher airfares and limited seat availability could affect budget-conscious travellers, who may postpone travel plans.
“As more visa free countries open their borders to Indian nationals, travellers have shown strong intent to travel internationally despite fare fluctuations. However, price-sensitive segments may shift towards closer regional destinations in South-east Asia while domestic tourism could also see an uptick,” concluded Arora.
