IndiGo has extended the cancellation of all flights to Tbilisi, Almaty, Baku, and Tashkent until March 28, 2026, as rising tensions between the United States and Iran keep large swathes of regional airspace under scrutiny. The decision, announced on February 16, compounds weeks of disruption for travelers heading between India, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, and highlights how geopolitical flashpoints are once again reshaping commercial aviation networks across Eurasia.
What IndiGo Has Announced So Far
The latest update from IndiGo confirms that services to and from Tbilisi in Georgia, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Tashkent in Uzbekistan will remain suspended until March 28, 2026. The airline had previously cancelled these routes in stages, first to late January, then to February 11, and later to February 28, before moving the goalposts again to late March as the regional situation failed to stabilize.
In its advisory, IndiGo said it is continuing to monitor developments around Iran and its associated airspace, reiterating that the safety and well-being of passengers and crew remain its top priority. The carrier emphasized that the cancellations are a proactive safety measure rather than a reflection of demand on the routes, and that schedules are under constant review to minimize knock-on disruption across its wider network.
The four affected routes link India to what has become an increasingly popular belt of short- to medium-haul leisure and business destinations. Tbilisi and Baku, in particular, have emerged as favored city-break options for Indian travelers, while Almaty and Tashkent serve as both tourism gateways and growing trade corridors. The prolonged suspension effectively removes a significant low-cost option for travel between India and these markets for at least the rest of the winter season.
From Short-Term Advisory to Multi-Month Suspension
The extension to March 28 caps a rapid escalation in IndiGo’s response to events around Iran. Initial disruptions surfaced in late January, when the airline began cancelling selected flights to Tbilisi and Almaty on specific days, before expanding the scope to include Baku and Tashkent. Those early moves were framed as temporary responses to an evolving security picture, with cancellations initially running only until January 28.
Within days, as assessments of risk over and around Iranian airspace hardened, IndiGo lengthened the suspension window. First, flights on the four routes were pushed out to February 11. That was followed by another extension to February 28, after which the airline suggested that all operations remained under review. Now, the latest announcement taking cancellations to March 28 makes clear that IndiGo does not anticipate near-term normalization of the airspace conditions required for routine, direct services.
The airline is far from alone in adopting a conservative stance. Other carriers across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have also rerouted or suspended flights that would ordinarily rely on crossing Iranian skies. However, the nature of IndiGo’s fleet and route structure means it has less flexibility than some full-service rivals to simply add distance and flying time on narrowbody aircraft without significant operational and cost penalties.
Why US–Iran Tensions Are Disrupting These Routes
The trigger for the latest wave of cancellations lies in the combination of heightened military tension between the United States and Iran and the resulting security advisories on the use of Iranian airspace. Intelligence warnings about potential confrontation and air defense activity have left regulators and airlines wary of exposing civilian aircraft to even a marginally elevated risk of miscalculation or accidental targeting.
Flights between India and destinations in the Caucasus and Central Asia typically take advantage of direct routings that pass through or near Iranian territory. When those corridors become constrained or politically sensitive, airlines are forced to either negotiate complex alternative routings or withdraw services entirely. For IndiGo’s operations to Tbilisi, Almaty, Baku, and Tashkent, the latter has become the default option in recent weeks.
The US–Iran backdrop has already prompted a series of advisories from global aviation authorities that urge caution in the use of Iranian airspace, particularly at cruising altitudes used by commercial traffic. Combined with Iran’s own restrictions and the broader risk calculus after previous high-profile incidents involving civilian aircraft in conflict zones, the message to airlines is clear: err heavily on the side of caution.
How Indian Airlines Are Adjusting Their Wider Networks
IndiGo’s decision to pull its Central Asia and Caucasus flights sits alongside a wider reshaping of international schedules by Indian carriers operating long-haul services. Air India and IndiGo have both confirmed that they are avoiding Iranian airspace on a range of routes, particularly those linking India with Europe and North America. Rerouting long-haul flights around restricted zones adds distance, time, and fuel burn, pushing aircraft and crew schedules closer to their operational limits.
For IndiGo, which only recently entered the widebody segment with leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft, the airspace turbulence has come at a delicate time. The airline has already announced adjustments to its long-haul network, including the suspension of services to Copenhagen from February 17 and capacity reductions on its Delhi to London Heathrow and Delhi to Manchester routes. The carrier has cited a combination of changing airspace constraints, congestion at airports, and the limited size of its widebody fleet as factors that have stretched its schedule resilience.
These knock-on effects underscore how a regional security issue can ripple far beyond its immediate geography. When critical flight corridors are compromised, airlines must rebalance entire networks to maintain punctuality, aircraft utilization, and crew rostering. For IndiGo, which operates with high aircraft utilization and a lean business model, prolonged detours are particularly disruptive, making targeted suspensions a more practical short-term solution for some city pairs.
Operational Constraints: Why Rerouting Is Not Always an Option
On paper, avoiding a risky airspace looks straightforward: pilots simply fly around it. In reality, the combination of aircraft range, payload, winds, air traffic control capacity, and schedule integrity often constrains what is feasible, especially for low-cost carriers operating narrowbody fleets like IndiGo’s Airbus A320neo family on longer sectors.
The routes from India to Tbilisi, Baku, Almaty, and Tashkent already sit toward the upper end of narrowbody stage lengths. Introducing extended detours to circumvent Iranian airspace can push those flights close to or beyond comfortable range margins, particularly when accounting for mandatory fuel reserves, possible holding patterns, and diversion options. Flying significantly longer tracks with a full passenger and cargo load may not be operationally or economically viable on a sustained basis.
Even where technical range is not an absolute barrier, the added block time can cascade through tightly structured daily rotations. One elongated flight can delay subsequent departures, disrupt crew duty limits, and force last-minute schedule changes. For a carrier like IndiGo, which has built its brand around punctuality and high-frequency service, sharp increases in flight time on a handful of routes can undermine performance across the network.
What Affected Passengers Can Expect
For travelers holding IndiGo tickets on the four suspended routes between now and March 28, the headline message is that nonstop options are off the table for the remainder of the winter schedule. The airline has said that impacted customers can either opt for a full refund or explore alternative travel arrangements, subject to availability on other routes and carriers.
In practice, many passengers are likely to rebook via full-service airlines that continue to operate to Tbilisi, Baku, Almaty, and Tashkent using alternative routings that avoid sensitive airspace. Those options typically involve connections through major hubs in the Gulf, Turkey, or Europe, often at higher fares than IndiGo’s point-to-point services. With multiple carriers adjusting capacity and routings simultaneously, last-minute seat availability and pricing may be volatile, particularly around peak travel dates.
Travelers who have not yet received direct communication from IndiGo about cancellations should proactively check their booking status, as advisory windows have shifted several times in recent weeks. Passengers are also being urged to monitor departure and arrival airports for any further operational changes, as airspace restrictions can evolve quickly if the political or military situation around Iran worsens.
Impact on Tourism and Business Links in the Region
The suspension of IndiGo’s services removes a major low-cost bridge between India and four regional capitals that have invested heavily in attracting Indian visitors and business travelers. In recent years, short visa processing times, direct connections, and attractive pricing helped Tbilisi, Baku, Almaty, and Tashkent carve out a niche as alternative getaways for Indian tourists seeking cooler climates, historic cityscapes, and winter sports.
Tour operators in these destinations now face the dual challenge of reduced air connectivity and traveler uncertainty over future disruptions. Some are pivoting to promote itineraries via other hubs or alternative gateways, while others are focusing on domestic and regional markets less exposed to India–Iran overflight issues. For hotel and hospitality stakeholders, the loss of a reliable stream of Indian guests during what is often a prime period for city breaks and ski trips is likely to be felt in occupancy and revenue numbers.
The business travel segment is not immune. Companies that relied on IndiGo’s relatively low fares and convenient timings for cross-border meetings and project work must now budget more time and money to maintain their international links. In sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and education, which have seen expanding ties between India and Central Asia or the Caucasus, reduced airline capacity introduces additional friction just as governments have been pushing to deepen engagement.
What to Watch Next as March 28 Approaches
The March 28 cutoff date sits just on the edge of the northern summer scheduling period, when airlines typically realign capacity and open new routes. Whether IndiGo restores its four suspended routes around that date will hinge on several moving parts: the security outlook in and around Iran, regulatory guidance on the use of regional airspace, and the carrier’s own assessment of fleet and schedule resilience.
If tensions between the United States and Iran ease, or if clearer, stable corridors emerge that allow safe and predictable flight planning, IndiGo could in theory move more quickly to reinstate at least some services. However, the experience of other conflict-linked airspace closures suggests that airlines often wait for sustained periods of stability, not just short-term lulls, before resuming direct overflights. That caution is reinforced by memories of past tragedies involving civilian aircraft in contested skies.
For now, IndiGo is signaling that its priority is to protect safety and maintain reliability across its broader network, even at the cost of withdrawing entirely from specific city pairs for several months. Travelers and industry watchers will be looking closely at updates from the airline and from regulators through March. The decision around these four routes could become a broader bellwether for how long commercial aviation remains constrained by the latest chapter in US–Iran tensions.