politics
European carriers add nonstop Asia flights as Gulf tensions disrupt hubs
Lufthansa, Swiss, Air Canada, British Airways and others are boosting direct services to India and Asian hubs after Gulf disruptions pushed passengers away from hub connections, raising fares and operating costs.
Apr 3rd 2026 · India
Insights
- Gulf airspace disruptions and cancellations are driving passengers to prefer nonstop routes over Gulf hub connections.
- Lufthansa added frequencies to India, making Frankfurt–Chennai daily and increasing Munich–Bengaluru to six weekly flights.
- Swiss doubled Zurich–Delhi capacity by adding a second daily service.
- Air Canada, Air France, KLM and British Airways have added or upgauged services to India and other Asian hubs to absorb displaced traffic.
- Air India operated more than 100 additional flights to Europe and North America since February 28 to meet demand shifts.
- Nonstop fares have jumped, nearly doubling on some routes, with Delhi to Frankfurt around ₹62,000 for travel 25 days out.
- Avoiding Iranian and Pakistani airspace has lengthened some Europe routes by 60 to 90 minutes and some North America routes by up to five hours, raising fuel burn and operating costs.
- European carriers aim to capture transit traffic, as about 30 percent of Indian travelers connect within Europe and another 30 to 40 percent travel onward to North America.