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India's Air Traffic Declines in April Amid Middle East Crisis Fallout

India's air traffic experienced a sequential slowdown in April, with domestic passengers dropping 4% month-on-month to 140.8 lakh and international traffic falling 20% to 28.3 lakh passengers. The decline is attributed to the Middle East conflict disrupting flight operations. However, the UAE has resumed normal air navigation, leading to increased flights from the region to India. Other Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar are also partially or fully reopening airspace, aiding recovery.

Key Points: India Air Traffic Dips in April Amid Middle East Crisis

  • Domestic air traffic dropped 4% month-on-month to 140.8 lakh passengers
  • International traffic fell 20% in April compared to March
  • UAE resumes normal air navigation, boosting flights to India
  • Indian carriers and Middle East airlines resume operations from UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain
2 min read

India's air traffic dips in April amid disruptions due to Middle East crisis

India's domestic and international air traffic saw a slowdown in April due to the Middle East crisis, with a 20% drop in international passengers.

"The overall flight situation in the Middle East continues to improve with additional flights operating from the region to various destinations in India. - Ministry of External Affairs"

New Delhi, May 4

India's air traffic registered a sequential slowdown in April compared to March for both domestic and international passengers, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The downturn comes in the backdrop of the Middle East conflict which led to sharp decline in international flights.

Domestic air traffic stood at 140.8 lakh passengers, which represents a 4 per cent drop (year-on-year) as well as month-on-month. International traffic saw a sharper decline of 20 per cent in April compared to March as the number of air passengers fell to 28.3 lakh passengers.

Meanwhile, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority announced full resumption of normal air navigation operations within the UAE airspace and the lifting of temporary precautionary measures on Saturday. Consequently, Indian and the UAE carriers have started operating more flights from the UAE to various destinations in India, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The overall flight situation in the Middle East continues to improve with additional flights operating from the region to various destinations in India.

Flights continue to operate from various airports in Saudi Arabia and Oman to various destinations in India. Qatar airspace is partially open. Air India, Air India Express, Indigo and Qatar Airways are operating flights from Qatar to various destinations in India.

Kuwait airspace is open. Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Airways are operating flights from Kuwait to India. Similarly, Bahrain airspace is open. Air India Express, Indigo and Gulf Air are operating flights from Bahrain to various destinations in India.

Iraq airspace is open for limited flight operations to destinations in the region, which can be used for onward travel to India.

Iran airspace is also partially open for cargo and chartered flights. The Ministry has advised Indian nationals to avoid travelling to Iran and urged those already there to leave via land border routes, with our Embassy's support. So far, the Indian Embassy in Tehran has facilitated movement of 2,504 Indian nationals out of Iran through land border routes, the statement said.

Israel airspace is open and limited flight operations have resumed to destinations in the region, which can be used for onward travel to India, the statement said.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

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Priya S
Good move by MEA to help get 2,500 Indians out of Iran via land routes. But let's also acknowledge how fragile our aviation recovery is - just one regional flare-up and we're back to square one. More diplomatic outreach needed, not just reactive measures. Oil prices already impacting our flight costs here.
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Siddharth J
Everyone's talking about Middle East, but domestic traffic dropping 4% YoY is a red flag for our economy. What about domestic tourism? Spent a bomb on train tickets last month because flights to Kerala were just too unpredictable with last-minute cancellations. We need our own airspace resilience plan.
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James A
I was supposed to fly from Bangalore to Dubai for a client meeting. Canceled 3 times. Now that UAE has reopened their airspace, I hope reliability comes back. India's carriers like Indigo and Air India are doing well to resume quickly, but these disruptions really hurt business travellers.
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Kavya N
As someone whose mother was stuck in Kuwait for a month, these updates are such a relief. Flight prices have been absolutely insane though - last week a Mumbai-Kuwait ticket was ₹35k! The government needs to step in on pricing when such crises happen. Still, grateful for the resumption. 🙏
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Sunita J
My nephew studies in Dubai - couldn't come home for Holi because flights kept getting cancelled. This is not just about money; it's about families being separated. I wish our government would work more proactively with Middle Eastern countries to keep these corridors open. Good to see Iran and Iraq partially opening too.

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