Did Air India cancel international flights till July? Airline issues clarification

Air India debunked a viral post claiming that the airline has cancelled all its international flights due to fuel shortage. In a tweet, the airline clarified that the claims are not just “fabricated” but “malicious” too.Air India’s response to the flight cancellation claim has prompted varied comments. (HT_PRINT)What did the viral claim say?A post started circulating on social media with a caption claiming the airline has cancelled all its flights until July. The fake viral claim read, “Air India has cancelled all of its international flights until July due to fuel shortages.”Also Read: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni slams viral fake photo, jokes ‘improved me quite a bit’What did the airline say?“#FakeNews Alert: Malicious and fabricated claims circulating on certain platforms alleging that Air India has cancelled all international flights are completely false and baseless,” Air India said.The airline further urged, “For accurate information, please rely only on official Air India channels.”How did social media react?An individual wrote, “Thanks for clarifying. Indeed, it would have been horrendous if flights were abruptly cancelled.” Another added, “Thanks for clarifying!! People who have to travel are really worried.”Also Read: Teacher, student in viral beating video call it ‘skit’. Internet refuses to believeA third commented, “Such criminals have to be identified along with their sponsors, and disenfranchised in all possible ways.”What caused the speculation?It’s unclear exactly what started the rumour; it could be linked to reports that the airline is scaling back parts of its international network in the coming months. Furthermore, due to the increasing fuel prices linked to the conflict in West Asia, Air India has cut more than 500 international flights across April and May.Although Air India has not suspended international flights, it has extended the suspension of its Tel Aviv-Delhi flights until the end of June. The decision came amid the continuing uncertainty in West Asia, reported PTI. Apart from a few Israeli carriers, many international airlines have reduced or stopped their operations on that route.Why did Air India decide to trim its international flights?Earlier this month, Air India’s outgoing CEO and Managing Director, Campbell Wilson, sent an internal message to employees explaining that the airline is cutting some routes because many have become unprofitable.“We have reduced some flying for April and May… A massive rise in jet fuel prices, together with airspace closures and longer flying routes, has caused many of our international flights to become unprofitable to operate,” Wilson told staff, reported PTI.“The airspace and jet fuel price situation remains extremely challenging, leaving us no choice but to further trim schedules for June and July,” he continued.The exec added, “The profitability of domestic flights has also been significantly affected, but to a lesser degree, thanks to the government’s limitation of the domestic fuel price rise to 25%.”