Air India slashes flights to Canada amid soaring jet fuel prices

Air India flight 187 from New Delhi lands at Pearson Airport in Toronto. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Frank Gunn)

MONTREAL — Air India has slashed its flight schedule due to soaring jet fuel prices, leaving Canadian residents hoping to visit the subcontinent with fewer options and higher fares.

In an internal message to staff verified by The Canadian Press, CEO Campbell Wilson said the airline has cut flight volumes for April and May, with plans for more schedule trims in June and July.

“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 said in last week’s memo.

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“To partially compensate for the huge spike in costs, we have increased airfares and imposed fuel surcharges but, understandably, these higher airfares impact customer demand, so we can only raise fares so far before people decide to stay home.”

The number of round-trip Air India flights scheduled between Toronto and Delhi fell to 31 in May versus 48 in March, a 35 per cent decrease, according to aviation data tracker Cirium.

Trips from Vancouver to Delhi have dropped to about five per week versus daily flights by India’s flagship carrier earlier in the year.

The long hauls demand heavy fuel consumption, prompting dozens of airlines to hike prices, scrap flights and ground planes as fuel prices hover close to double the rate from before the Iran conflict, which choked off Persian Gulf energy exports due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Some 1.4 million residents of Indian descent call Canada home, according to the 2021 census, with India the leading source of immigration.

The higher fares and slimmer supply will make travel to the subcontinent a tougher sell for travellers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

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Air Canada offers daily flights to Delhi from Toronto, but halted direct service from Vancouver during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Average round-trip economy fares on trips between Canada and Delhi, which had been lower than last year for much of the first two months of 2026, jumped 24 per cent year-over-year to $1,963 by late April, according to travel search site Kayak.

The increase marks a much bigger leap than for international flights overall, which rose 11 per cent year-over-year, Kayak figures show.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2026.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press