Air India suspends Delhi, Mumbai services; more reductions likely

Nagpur: Several airlines have begun scaling down operations at Nagpur airport, raising concerns over reduced connectivity and a possible spike in airfares during the peak summer travel season. The development comes days after the Centre cleared the GMR-led modernisation of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.According to sources, major carriers, including Air India, IndiGo, and Air India Express, have cancelled, suspended, or reduced flight frequencies. Several domestic routes linking Nagpur with key cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Indore, and Goa are likely to be affected under revised operational schedules.Air India has announced that its daily Delhi–Nagpur flights (AI-415 and AI-416) will remain suspended in July. The airline has also suspended two Mumbai–Nagpur services (AI-2581 and AI-2582) from June 1 to August 1. Another evening service on the same sector (AI-2583 and AI-2584) will also remain suspended during this period.Air India attributed the changes to operational constraints, including airspace restrictions and rising costs. It said affected passengers would be offered alternative flights, complimentary date changes or full refunds, subject to availability.Meanwhile, IndiGo is implementing route reductions under its revised operational plan from June 16. The airline is set to discontinue its Bengaluru–Nagpur (6E 486, 6E 6803), Kolkata–Nagpur (6E 6139) and Hyderabad–Nagpur (6E 7525) services.IndiGo's Ahmedabad–Nagpur flight (6E 7247) will operate four times a week, while its Indore–Nagpur service (6E 7427) will run five days a week. The Goa–Nagpur flight (6E 6934) will no longer operate on Wednesdays.With the summer travel season underway, aviation observers say the reduced frequency could create a demand-supply mismatch, potentially pushing up ticket prices and causing inconvenience to passengers travelling to and from Nagpur.