Iran airspace sudden closure: Air India cancels 3 US flights; IndiGo flight returns to Baku

NEW DELHI: Flights between India and the west will get longer as airlines have stopped overflying the Iranian and Iraqi airspace due to the evolving situation in the region. The sudden closure of Iranian airspace for some time on Wednesday-Thursday night meant Air India had to cancel Thursday morning’s Delhi-New York JFK (AI 101), Delhi-Newark (AI 105) and Mumbai-JFK (AI 119). The return flights were consequentially also cancelled.

IndiGo’s Baku-Delhi flight early Thursday morning returned to the Azerbaijan capital within an hour as it was to overfly Iran after crossing the Caspian Sea. Air India will cancel some flights where rerouting is not possible. For Indian carriers, avoiding Iran and Iraq will mean not overflying the entire stretch from Iraq right upto Pakistan. Accordingly, IndiGo could take a call on its Almaty, Tashkent and Baku flights shortly as flying between those places and India will mean taking an extraordinary long route that will require a felling halt some place like Jordan.


The Iranian airspace was suddenly closed on Wednesday-Thursday night. "IndiGo flight 6E1808 is now the last non-Iran-registered passenger aircraft in Iranian airspace,” Flightradar24 said on X at 3.49 am (IST) Thursday.
A notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued Thursday at 22:15 (UTC or GMT) said: “Tehran flight information region (FIR) closed to all flights except international civil arrivals and departures to and from Tehran FIR with prior permission from Iran Civil Aviation Authority.” Subsequently another NOTAM was issued saying “Tehran FIR resumed normal operations” but multiple airlines are avoiding the airspace for safety reasons.

Air India said on X Thursday morning: “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. Some Air India flights where currently rerouting is not possible are being cancelled. We request passengers to check the status of their flights on our website before heading to the airport. Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to this unforeseen disruption. Safety of our passengers and crew remain top priority.”

A Lufthansa spokesperson said: “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. This means that crews fly back immediately afterwards without an overnight stay on site. 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.”

“The Lufthansa Group continues to monitor the situation closely and will continue to assess the situation in the coming days. Affected passengers will be automatically rebooked and proactively contacted. Alternatively, guests can rebook to a later travel date. The safety of our guests and crew members is always our top priority,” the spokesperson said.

A Jan 11 analyst update by Osprey Flight Solutions titled “Iran: Main urban centres: Further violent clashes near certain in the short term amid deteriorating security situation” says: “Operators are advised that the security situation in Iran's main urban centres remains fluid and subject to rapid change amid the ongoing violence. While airport operations have remained largely unaffected, disruption is possible in the short term, to include airport worker involvement in protests, impacting staffing levels at facilities. Additionally, fuel shortages at airports and direct protest action at/near facilities are possible in the short term….”

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