Air India cuts flights to 5 European countries amid Covid-19 crisis

New Delhi, Aug 13: Air India has decided to close down five of its European stations to reduce costs and streamline operations during the COVID crisis.

The national airline will close down the Copenhagen, Vienna, Stockholm, Madrid, and Milan stations.

Whenever the normal international flight services commence, the move will effectively cease the airline's operations to the mentioned destinations.

According to the reports, instructions have been given to close down the stations and relocate the international booking offices (IBOs).

The Air India headquarter has already instructed an official in Italy about the closure of the station in Milan.

"In view of the Covid situation, it has been approved by the competent authority to close down Milan station," the communication read.

Notably, the airline have been going through severe financial crisis and is trying to control costs via renegotiating earlier contracts on lease rentals and costs incurred on human resources.

It was being estimated, even if services resume shortly, the prospects of healthy passenger traffic seems slim to these foreign destinations.

The airline operated flights to over 60 domestic and international destinations during the pre-Covid era.

An airline spokesperson said to News18, "In view of the Covid situation, AI has decided to close down these stations and would immediately initiate action for the closure in consultation with local lawyers and advise the timelines, by which the station will be closed."

Meanwhile, AirIndia is engaged in the fifth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission and operating close to 700 flights between India and at least 53 countries during this phase.

In the fourth phase till July 30, the airline had operated 617 flights to bring back around 110,383 passengers.