Air India to suspend Washington, DC, flights

Air India is suspending flights to Dulles International Airport (IAD) in Washington, D.C., indefinitely as it begins interior updates to its Boeing 787 fleet.

The Star Alliance carrier will end flights between Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and IAD on Sept. 1, Air India said Monday.

Air India attributed the move to a “planned shortfall” in available long-haul aircraft due to an interior retrofit program and the additional flight time needed to avoid the closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian airlines that began in May.

The airline also lost one of its Boeing 787s in the Air India flight AI171 accident at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) in Ahmedabad on June 12.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, speaking at the aviation trade group IATA’s annual meeting in Delhi at the beginning of June, said the 787 interior retrofits would begin in July or August and continue through 2027.

Seat production issues had delayed the program by one to two years, Wilson added.

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The plan is to bring the interiors on Air India’s Boeing 777s and 787s up to the same standard as its Airbus A350-900s. The A350s currently fly from DEL to Dubai International Airport (DXB), London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

Air India did not indicate why it decided to suspend its DEL-IAD route and not others. The airline continues to serve Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD), EWR, JFK and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

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The airline’s DEL-IAD flight currently operates three-times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Cirium schedules show. The flight stops to refuel at Vienna Airport (VIE) when traveling from DEL to IAD.

Air India will offer all affected travelers either alternative flights or a full refund, the airline said.