By Jayujyoti Mullick
Air India announced it will operate an additional 36 flights, providing additional capacity to Frankfurt, London (Heathrow), Toronto, and Zurich. Amid rising demand for international travel amid ongoing war conflict in the Middle East, Air India announced it will continue operating flights to its key destinations in Europe and North America through March 28.
The additional 36 flights will fly through the following five routes between March 19 and March 28 including Delhi-London (Heathrow); Mumbai-London (Heathrow); Delhi-Frankfurt; Delhi-Zurich; Delhi-Toronto.
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These five routes will add more than 10,000 seats, increasing capacity and making it easier for travellers to explore more options amid the ongoing situation. The Delhi-Frankfurt will be running daily, going to and from. The London (Heathrow)-Delhi route will be the second busiest, along with the same number of flights flying in the Toronto-Delhi route, for four days.
These services are an add-on to the recently announced additional 78 flights that are currently running from March 10 to March 18.
Earlier today, more than 4,400 flights were cancelled, while another 10,400 have been reportedly delayed across the United States. According to reports, an additional 290 flights are feared to be cancelled by March 18. The disruption is caused by the ongoing storm in the Eastern part of the United States and has been compounded by the ongoing partial shutdown of the government.
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The airlines of the United States have been calling for funds to be restored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which regulates the Transportation Security Administration. As per reports, the department has been running without funds since February 2026 following a failed agreement. However, President Trump administration has been blaming the Democrats for the deadlock, stating that they refused to pass the funding without changes to immigration policy.
The tension in the system is becoming more prominent. As per the DHS, more than 300 TSA employees had stepped down as of March 13.