Air India weighs Mumbai shift for Europe, US flights as airspace curbs bite

NEW DELHI: Air India is considering shifting more of its European and North American operations to Mumbai as Pakistan's continued closure of its airspace raises the cost of westbound flights, forcing the airline to rethink its international network.

The Tata Group-owned airline plans to expand services to Southeast and East Asia, including Japan, China and Hong Kong, through Delhi, while retaining some European and North American flights from the capital. It is also exploring Bengaluru as a third hub alongside Delhi and Mumbai.

The restructuring is aimed at improving connectivity, containing costs and regaining international market share. The airline is also considering adding to its existing wide-body aircraft orders to support long-haul expansion.

The network overhaul is part of a wider transformation under chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam, who took charge in September with a mandate to improve the airline's operational and financial performance. His first public appearance since taking charge was at the Aviation India and South Asia 2026 conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

“Most of our network, unfortunately, Europe and America, has been affected by the airspace closure. So, we are rebalancing the hub network,” Gebremariam said.

“The eastern side and the south-eastern side of our network are not affected by the airspace closure. So that growth will be by and large in Delhi. Europe and America will be in Mumbai. We still have European and American flights from Delhi, but more will be moving to Mumbai. We’re also exploring Bangalore as a third hub.”

Pakistan's airspace closure, in place since April 2025, has forced Air India to take longer routes on several international services, particularly those connecting India with Europe and North America. Former chief executive Campbell Wilson had estimated the annual cost of the restrictions to the airline at about ₹4,000 crore.

Longer flying times have raised fuel consumption and operating costs, prompting the airline to reduce frequencies at European stations and cut services to some US destinations, including Chicago and Washington. Its Bengaluru-San Francisco non-stop service has also been discontinued.

“Today, because of the current problems, we have reduced frequencies from European stations. We have cut some US stations, like Chicago and Washington,” Gebremariam said.

The airline hopes to restore services as operating conditions improve. Under the proposed rebalancing, Mumbai would handle more westbound traffic, while Delhi would anchor expansion into Asian markets. Gebremariam described the current operating challenges as a “short-term issue”.

Air India is also exploring an increase in its wide-body aircraft orders as it seeks to expand internationally and capture a larger share of India's overseas passenger traffic.

The airline operates 60 wide-body, twin-aisle aircraft on long-haul routes, out of a fleet of around 280. It has pending orders for about 60 more wide-body aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. Between 2023 and 2026, it placed firm orders for about 600 aircraft, including narrow-body and wide-body jets.

Gebremariam did not disclose a number or timeline for any additional wide-body orders.

Aviation analyst and former airline executive William Boulter said shifting some international operations from Delhi to Mumbai to mitigate the impact of Pakistan's airspace closure was viable, but would depend on slot availability and passenger demand. “Slots tend to be the constraining factor. And of course, the market demand,” he said.

Boulter said Air India's earlier decision to cut capacity rather than divert traffic through alternative hubs was also a valid response to the disruption. However, Mumbai's limited slots and ongoing terminal redevelopment could constrain the proposed shift.

“The challenge is to preserve connectivity and profitability without adding further pressure to an already strained international network,” he added.

The network restructuring comes as Air India continues to grapple with mounting losses. Air India Group's FY26 loss more than doubled to ₹22,238 crore from ₹10,859 crore a year earlier, while revenue fell nearly 9% to ₹71,870 crore.

Air India reported a standalone loss of ₹15,368 crore on revenue of ₹51,452 crore, while Air India Express lost ₹6,767 crore on revenue of ₹19,088 crore.

Lower capacity and passenger numbers, higher expenses, foreign-exchange losses and airspace closures weighed on the group's performance.

Gebremariam said the immediate priority was to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Air India's cost per available seat kilometre was currently higher than the revenue it earned per available seat kilometre, he said.

Also Read | New Air India CEO gets his strategy in place

“I am more impatient than the shareholders to see Air India turn profitable,” he said.

The airline is seeking to lower costs through better operational efficiency and fleet utilization, as well as closer coordination between Air India and its low-cost carrier, Air India Express. This includes integrating select operations of Air India Express to improve efficiency and resource utilization across the two businesses.

Gebremariam, who spent 37 years at Ethiopian Airlines, including 11 as its chief executive, said rebuilding Air India would require a long-term commitment spanning 15-20 years.

Asked whether Air India had a 15-year timeline, similar to Ethiopian Airlines, he said, “This could be 20 years.”

He clarified that the extended horizon reflected the scale of the opportunity to build the airline, not the time it would take to achieve profitability.

The long-term outlook echoes Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran's assessment. In his address to shareholders in Tata Sons' FY26 annual report in July, Chandrasekaran said Air India's turnaround could take five to 10 years.

“Every great airline in history was built over decades, not quarters,” Chandrasekaran had said.

Abhishek Law has spent 18 years in journalism, which in news industry terms means he has survived several newsroom restructurings, countless “urgent” press releases, and more cups of tea than he can reasonably count. Based in New Delhi, he covers aviation for Mint, a sector where aircraft, oil prices, geopolitics and airline CEOs regularly conspire to make his life interesting.<br><br>Most of his time gets occupied by translating airline jargon like ASKs, yields, load factors and fleet strategies into language that doesn’t require a pilot’s licence. His motto is simple: if readers need a glossary, he hasn’t done his job properly.<br><br>On most days, the quadragenarian is tracking airline strategies, policy changes and the occasional mid-air disruption that suddenly become a stock market story. When planes are behaving themselves (which is not very often nowadays), he strays into other corporate beats like steel, trying to figure out what’s really happening.<br><br>He loves to talk, especially ask—that one more question which people are uncomfortable with, and saving contacts in his phone as a "Source who may or may not pick up calls”. <br><br>But, on a serious note, the goal remains simple: cut through jargon, find that additional detail, and turn complicated business stories into something one can actually enjoy reading.

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