Air India is heading into the winter season with a noticeably smaller international network. The Star Alliance carrier — India's largest international airline and second-biggest overall behind IndiGo — has quietly cancelled or suspended services to eight destinations, according to schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The biggest headache for travellers is across the Atlantic. Air India's Delhi–Chicago O'Hare route, which operated four times weekly via Vienna, was suspended on June 1 supposedly until August 31, citing airspace restrictions and record-high jet fuel prices. That temporary pause has now become open-ended, with no flights on the schedule at all. The Delhi–Newark route was suspended at the same time and isn't due back until January 2027.
Europe has taken the sharpest cuts. Delhi–Vienna ended on October 31, leaving Austria with no nonstop link to India — a blow given roughly 173,500 people flew between Vienna and Indian cities in 2025, with Delhi the largest market. Delhi–Copenhagen and Amritsar–London Gatwick are also gone, and the three-weekly Delhi–Birmingham service stops from November 4. Overall, Air India's European seat capacity between November 2026 and March 2027 is down around 12% year on year, with Delhi–Paris cut hardest — frequency halved from 14 to seven weekly flights.
The driver is cost. Jet fuel reportedly topped $206 per barrel by late October amid ongoing Middle East tensions, squeezing long-haul economics hard. The airline says the changes are meant to improve network stability and reduce last-minute disruption to passengers.
It's not all shrinking. Air India retains a solid European core this winter: up to four daily flights from Delhi to London Heathrow, twice-daily Mumbai–Heathrow, plus services to Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich, along with regional links from Ahmedabad and Amritsar to Birmingham and Gatwick.
Domestically, the story is less about cancellation and more about consolidation. Five routes — Delhi–Goa, Chennai–Madurai, Delhi–Aurangabad, Mumbai–Jamnagar and Hyderabad–Tirupati — are being handed over to low-cost sister airline Air India Express between May and August 2026. They'll still operate, just on the budget carrier. It's part of the Tata Group's broader restructuring since taking over the former state-owned airline in 2022: Vistara has been merged into Air India, AirAsia India folded into Air India Express, and the group now runs a clean two-brand split between full-service and low-cost.
For anyone booking India trips this winter, the practical takeaway is to double-check connections. If your plan relies on an Air India hub stop in Vienna, Copenhagen, Chicago or Newark, that routing may no longer exist — rebook via the airline's surviving gateway cities or consider partner carriers. And on domestic Indian routes moving to Air India Express, expect a no-frills product, possibly different baggage allowances and a separate booking even if the route itself survives.
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