Against the backdrop of escalating hostilities between Iran and the US-Israel coalition, India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) decided not to suspend commercial connectivity with the Gulf. According to an evening bulletin released on 9 March, Indian carriers—Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air—mounted roughly 50 passenger services linking Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kozhikode with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah and other West-Asian hubs. The ministry’s war-room has been meeting every six hours since late-February to assess missile-alert maps issued by the Joint Aviation Authorities of the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Where necessary, flights are being re-routed over the Arabian Sea, adding 40-90 minutes of block time but avoiding the highest-risk FIRs over Iraq and western Iran.
![India keeps West Asia corridor open: 50 flights operate on March 9 despite regional airspace closures]()
Travelers anxious about shifting visa requirements or urgent documentation can streamline the process through VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/). The platform provides real-time advisory updates for Gulf destinations, rapid e-visa applications and concierge support—services that become especially valuable when flight paths and schedules are changing at short notice.
Senior officials said the government is also monitoring airfare data in real time to deter "crisis profiteering" after spot fares briefly spiked 60 % on the Mumbai-Dubai sector last week. Airlines have been told to keep at least one wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft on domestic standby for unscheduled evacuation missions should the security graph deteriorate further. At Delhi IGI Airport, immigration counters for Gulf arrivals now have a dedicated MoCA liaison officer to fast-track visa-overstay queries by stranded residents. For Indian businesses that depend on the Gulf corridor—IT services in Dubai Internet City, construction projects in Doha, and the USD 7-billion annual medical-tourism flow—the continuation of even a trimmed flight schedule is critical. Trade bodies such as FIEO and Nasscom welcomed the decision, saying it gives exporters breathing room to reroute cargo via Jebel Ali and keeps human-capital rotations on track. Nevertheless, risk advisers are urging companies to activate split-team policies and review insurance cover for "war risk" and "civil commotion" exclusions. Looking ahead, MoCA officials indicated that daily flight approvals will remain ‘dynamic’ until regional NOTAMs are lifted. Passengers have been asked to reconfirm bookings 12 hours before departure and to budget extra transit time for possible diversions over the Arabian Sea and Red Sea corridors.
Travelers anxious about shifting visa requirements or urgent documentation can streamline the process through VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/). The platform provides real-time advisory updates for Gulf destinations, rapid e-visa applications and concierge support—services that become especially valuable when flight paths and schedules are changing at short notice.
Senior officials said the government is also monitoring airfare data in real time to deter "crisis profiteering" after spot fares briefly spiked 60 % on the Mumbai-Dubai sector last week. Airlines have been told to keep at least one wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft on domestic standby for unscheduled evacuation missions should the security graph deteriorate further. At Delhi IGI Airport, immigration counters for Gulf arrivals now have a dedicated MoCA liaison officer to fast-track visa-overstay queries by stranded residents. For Indian businesses that depend on the Gulf corridor—IT services in Dubai Internet City, construction projects in Doha, and the USD 7-billion annual medical-tourism flow—the continuation of even a trimmed flight schedule is critical. Trade bodies such as FIEO and Nasscom welcomed the decision, saying it gives exporters breathing room to reroute cargo via Jebel Ali and keeps human-capital rotations on track. Nevertheless, risk advisers are urging companies to activate split-team policies and review insurance cover for "war risk" and "civil commotion" exclusions. Looking ahead, MoCA officials indicated that daily flight approvals will remain ‘dynamic’ until regional NOTAMs are lifted. Passengers have been asked to reconfirm bookings 12 hours before departure and to budget extra transit time for possible diversions over the Arabian Sea and Red Sea corridors.
