Surprising? Air India Scraps 2 Important Ultra-Long Routes To The US

Air India is making significant changes to its San Francisco network. It has confirmed that its ultra-long-haul services from Bengaluru will not return, having been suspended earlier this year. Meanwhile, Mumbai flights will end. Both routes suffer from the consequences of the continued inability to overfly Russian and Pakistani airspace.

The Star Alliance member will now only have one route to San Francisco. However, because of the cuts, its frequency from Delhi to the California airport will rise from daily to ten times a week. It is doubling down on its primary hub.

Air India Won’t Be Bringing Back Bengaluru To San Francisco Flights

On a great circle distance basis, the Boeing 777-200LR flights between Bengaluru to San Francisco covered a staggering 7,561 nautical miles (14,003 km) each way. The route was meaningfully longer than United Airlines’ brand-new operation from its Pacific hub to Adelaide, which began in December 2025.

Bengaluru to San Francisco connected the two major IT cities. This contributed not just to traffic levels but also to very high fares, which reflected strong premium traffic. In the 12 months to October 2025, booking data shows that 156,000 round-trip passengers flew between the two cities. Three-quarters of people chose not to fly Air India. When all carriers, cabins, and airlines are included, they paid an average of $1,600 each way. No wonder United Airlines was keen to fly to Bengaluru.

Air India began the route amid the pandemic in 2021, which was a very odd time to launch such a long and expensive offering. Low demand meant frequencies were quickly reduced, with the route suspended in March 2022, influenced by the start of the Russia-Ukraine war and the inability to overfly Russian airspace. It returned in December 2022 and operated until mid-2025.

Indian airlines were banned from flying through Pakistani airspace in early 2025. A particularly notable consequence of this was that flights from San Francisco back to Bengaluru had to stop to refuel in Kolkata, with the block time increasing to nearly 20 hours. It was a more expensive, complex, and even less competitive offering.

Mumbai To San Francisco Flights Will End

Air India launched the first nonstop service from Mumbai to San Francisco in December 2022. For much of the time, the 777-200LR operated nonstop, primarily four times a week.

What impacted Air India’s Bengaluru flights also impacted Mumbai’s operations. When the brand-new route started three years ago, the block time back to Mumbai was usually 16h 40m. The impact of avoiding Russian and Pakistani airspace meant flights had to stop en route home, increasing the scheduled time to a huge 20 hours or so.

While Air India’s schedule submission to OAG and Cirium Diio indicates a stop in Kolkata back to Mumbai, Flightradar24 shows that it isn’t always the case. Sometimes it refuels in Vienna, with the 777-300ER now being used (shown in the photo above). I cannot find any bookable Mumbai-bound flight after late February 2026.

Delhi-San Francisco Flights Increase To Ten Weekly

Due to Mumbai flights being cut and Bengaluru not returning, Air India has increased Delhi-San Francisco services from daily to ten times a week. This appears to take effect from the first week of March. It’ll return to the frequency last available in June 2025.

Flights will continue to operate nonstop to San Francisco but stop in Kolkata en route back to Delhi. It must have worked out that it is worth it, given the reduced capacity, that Delhi is its main hub, and that it wants to still serve the Canadia city.

In the first week of March, it’ll have a daily operation from San Francisco on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and have two daily flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On those three days, the block time back to its primary hub will be up to 20 hours and 45 minutes.