Passengers hoping to fly between Canada and India are facing a painful reality this summer: fewer seats, steeper prices, and a shrinking list of options, as Air India pulls back its transatlantic schedule in response to runaway jet fuel costs that show no sign of easing.
India’s flagship carrier has quietly trimmed its flight volumes through April and May, with further reductions already flagged for June and July. The cuts, confirmed through an internal staff memo from CEO Campbell Wilson that was verified by The Canadian Press, mark one of the most significant pullbacks the airline has made on its Canadian routes in recent memory.
“This is in response to the massive rise in jet fuel prices which, together with airspace closures and longer flying routes, has caused many of our international flights to become unprofitable to operate,” Wilson wrote to staff last week.
The numbers tell the story starkly. Aviation data tracker Cirium reports that the number of round-trip Air India flights between Toronto and Delhi dropped to just 31 in May down from 48 in March, a decline of roughly 35 percent in less than two months. Out of Vancouver, what was once a daily service has been scaled back to around five flights per week.
The root of the problem traces back to the conflict involving Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which choked off Persian Gulf energy exports and sent shockwaves through global fuel markets. Jet fuel prices now hover at close to double what airlines were paying before the conflict began, forcing carriers worldwide to make difficult choices about which routes to keep flying.
Air India is far from alone. Dozens of airlines have hiked ticket prices, cancelled flights, and grounded aircraft as the economics of long-haul travel deteriorate rapidly. But the Canada-India corridor is particularly vulnerable those ultra-long flights burn enormous quantities of fuel, and with airspace closures forcing planes onto longer paths, the cost per seat has climbed sharply.
Wilson acknowledged the bind his airline finds itself in. The carrier has raised fares and added fuel surcharges to partially offset the losses, but there is a ceiling to how much passengers will absorb before they simply opt not to travel.
“We have increased airfares and imposed fuel surcharges but, understandably, these higher airfares impact customer demand,” he wrote. “We can only raise fares so far before people decide to stay home.”
For Canada’s large Indian diaspora the 2021 census counted approximately 1.4 million residents of Indian descent, making India the country’s top source of immigration the timing could hardly be worse. Summer is traditionally peak travel season for families visiting relatives across the subcontinent.
Travel search platform Kayak tracked average round-trip economy fares between Canada and Delhi at around $1,963 by late April a 24 percent jump compared to the same period a year ago. That increase dwarfs the 11 percent year-over-year rise seen across international flights broadly, underscoring how acutely this particular route has been hit.
Just weeks earlier, Canada-India fares had actually been running below last year’s levels, offering travellers a rare moment of relief. That window has now firmly closed.
Air Canada continues to operate daily flights between Toronto and Delhi, giving travellers at least one alternative on that route. However, the carrier suspended its direct Vancouver-Delhi service during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not reinstated it, leaving passengers on Canada’s west coast with fewer direct options and no clear relief in sight.
With Air India retreating and Air Canada absent from Vancouver’s direct India routes, travellers in British Columbia face the prospect of costly connections, longer journey times, or simply postponing their plans altogether.
Whether fuel prices stabilise in the coming months will likely determine whether Air India’s cuts prove temporary or signal a longer-term restructuring of how the airline approaches the Canada corridor. For now, anyone planning a summer trip to India would be well advised to book early and brace for a higher bill than they may have expected.
