India’s largest airline by market share says it is ready to switch its network back on after a week-long pause forced by missile activity across West Asia. In a statement issued just before midnight on 11 March, IndiGo confirmed it will resume flights to Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Kuwait, Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh on 12 March, alongside limited services to Istanbul, Milan and Tbilisi.
![IndiGo to restart nine Middle-East routes and selected Europe services from 12 March]()
With routes reopening, travellers may also need to review their visa documentation. VisaHQ, through its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/), streamlines applications for Gulf and European destinations, offering door-to-door passport handling and 24/7 status tracking—services that can prove invaluable while schedules remain unpredictable.
Safety clearances were secured in coordination with India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and foreign regulators once alternate routings that bypass no-fly zones were validated. Schedules remain “fluid,” the carrier warned, urging passengers to check real-time status links before heading to the airport. Customer-relations teams are contacting travellers whose earlier bookings were cancelled to arrange re-accommodation or refunds. For Indian corporates, the restart is important because IndiGo controls roughly 35 % of capacity between India and the Gulf, underpinning project logistics, IT-services rotations and the movement of seafarers. Travel consultants say fares on the first wave of restored flights are trading 25-40 % higher than pre-crisis levels, reflecting detours that add up to 90 minutes flying time and higher insurance premiums. IndiGo’s decision also brings relief for export shippers; the airline’s A321 freighter division is expected to renew uplift of pharmaceuticals and perishables to Dubai and Jeddah, easing cargo backlogs that have built up in Delhi and Mumbai warehouses.
With routes reopening, travellers may also need to review their visa documentation. VisaHQ, through its India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/), streamlines applications for Gulf and European destinations, offering door-to-door passport handling and 24/7 status tracking—services that can prove invaluable while schedules remain unpredictable.
Safety clearances were secured in coordination with India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation and foreign regulators once alternate routings that bypass no-fly zones were validated. Schedules remain “fluid,” the carrier warned, urging passengers to check real-time status links before heading to the airport. Customer-relations teams are contacting travellers whose earlier bookings were cancelled to arrange re-accommodation or refunds. For Indian corporates, the restart is important because IndiGo controls roughly 35 % of capacity between India and the Gulf, underpinning project logistics, IT-services rotations and the movement of seafarers. Travel consultants say fares on the first wave of restored flights are trading 25-40 % higher than pre-crisis levels, reflecting detours that add up to 90 minutes flying time and higher insurance premiums. IndiGo’s decision also brings relief for export shippers; the airline’s A321 freighter division is expected to renew uplift of pharmaceuticals and perishables to Dubai and Jeddah, easing cargo backlogs that have built up in Delhi and Mumbai warehouses.
