Indian airlines reroute and cancel flights after Iran shuts airspace

Indian airlines Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet rerouted or cancelled international flights after Iran closed its airspace amid rising US tensions. Several global carriers were also affected, while India advised its citizens to avoid travel to Iran

New Delhi: Major Indian airlines Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet on Thursday informed of rerouting some of their international flights as Iran shut down its airspace.

Iran, which is facing widespread protests against its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid growing tensions with the US, had ordered the closure of its airspace to commercial aircraft without any explanation.

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As a result, Air India had to cancel its early morning flights, such as Delhi-New York JFK (AI 101), Delhi-Newark (AI 105), and Mumbai-JFK (AI 119). The return flights were also cancelled.

IndiGo’s Baku-Delhi flight, slated for early morning, had to return to the Azerbaijan capital within an hour as it was to overfly Iran after crossing the Caspian Sea.

“Due to the emerging situation in Iran, the subsequent closure of its airspace, and in view of the safety of our passengers, Air India flights overflying the region are now using an alternative routing, which may lead to delays,” Air India shared in a post on the social media platform X.

The company noted that it is cancelling flights “where currently rerouting is not possible”.

“Due to the sudden airspace closure by Iran, some of our international flights are impacted. Our teams are working diligently to assess the situation and support affected customers by offering the best possible alternatives,” added IndiGo.

SpiceJet also shared a similar travel update and attributed the impact on flights to airspace closure in Iran.

The airlines noted that “safety of passengers and crew remains top priority” and requested passengers to check the status of their flights on the company’s website.

Other international airlines, such as Lufthansa, have also been impacted, and their flights are also being cancelled.

“Due to the current situation in the Middle East, the Lufthansa Group has decided, after careful evaluation, to operate flights to and from Tel Aviv and Amman as day flights from Thursday, January 15 up to and including Monday, January 19, 2026,” according to a Lufthansa spokesperson.

“In some cases, there may also be flight cancellations. In addition, Iranian and Iraqi airspace will be circumnavigated by all Lufthansa Group airlines until further notice,” it added.

Meanwhile, India on Wednesday asked all its nationals currently residing in Iran to leave by available means as the security situation in the country deteriorated further in view of massive anti-government protests and a crackdown on the demonstrators.

“In view of the ongoing developments in Iran, Indian nationals are once again strongly advised to avoid travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran until further notice,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in an advisory.