New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh)— The escalating warfare in West Asia continued to paralyze international air travel on Friday, March 6, 2026, with over 140 flights cancelled at India’s four busiest airports. As the conflict involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran led to the closure of several key airspaces, passengers at Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata faced widespread disruptions and last-minute cancellations.
According to civil aviation officials, at least 142 international flights were grounded on Friday alone. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport was the hardest hit, reporting 39 cancelled departures and 34 cancelled arrivals. Bengaluru followed with 33 total cancellations, while Delhi and Kolkata saw 29 and 7 flights scrapped, respectively. These figures come just a day after the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed that 281 flights scheduled for Thursday were cancelled across the country.
Amidst the chaos, some Indian carriers have begun operating limited “mercy missions” and special schedules to retrieve stranded citizens:
- SpiceJet announced it would operate 14 special flights from the UAE specifically to repatriate Indian passengers stuck in the Gulf.
- Akasa Air confirmed the operation of its Mumbai–Jeddah route on Friday, with plans to expand services from Ahmedabad and Kochi to Jeddah on Saturday.
- Air India and IndiGo continue to monitor the situation, with many flights being re-routed over safer corridors, leading to significantly longer flight times and technical halts for refueling.
The primary cause of the disruption remains the “broad-scale” Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and the subsequent Iranian retaliatory drone attacks across Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. With major aviation hubs like Doha and Tel Aviv currently inaccessible to commercial traffic, the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated it is maintaining a 24/7 watch on the evolving security situation to ensure the safety of Indian crew and aircraft.
Travellers are strongly advised to check their flight status directly with airlines before heading to the airport. Many carriers are offering one-time date changes or full refunds for affected bookings as the industry grapples with the largest regional airspace closure in recent history.
