Air Canada suspending flights between Vancouver and Delhi due to Ukraine conflict

Air Canada planes are shown here in storage at Vancouver International Airport during the pandemic.

Air Canada will suspend direct flights between Vancouver and Delhi this summer due to the difficulty of avoiding Russian and Ukrainian airspace en route to the Indian capital.

The airline announced the suspension of flights, which will begin June 2 on the Vancouver-to-Delhi route and June 4 in the opposite direction, in a statement on Wednesday.

"The route is operationally constrained because of extended flying times and a refueling stop that is required due to the current flight paths taken to go around Russian and Ukraine airspace," the statement reads.

"Summer wind and weather conditions in South Asia are expected to compound these constraints, making the route unviable during this period."

Vancouver-to-Delhi flights are scheduled to resume on Sept. 6 and Delhi-to-Vancouver flights are scheduled to resume on Sept. 8, Air Canada said.

Passengers who have already booked flights during the affected time period will be automatically rescheduled onto alternate flights, the airline said, adding that those who purchased through third-party travel agencies or websites should contact those providers directly for their new itineraries.

Other Air Canada flights between Delhi and Canada will continue to be offered during the suspension. The airline said flights from Delhi to Toronto and Montreal use different flight paths that are not constrained by the same factors as the Vancouver route.

"Air Canada continues to monitor global situations very closely and may reinstate its Vancouver-Delhi route earlier if conditions permit," the airline said. 

Air Canada introduced direct flights between Vancouver and Delhi in 2016, but the route has been suspended more than once since then.

In 2019, political tensions between India and Pakistan led to the latter closing its airspace for several months. And, during the Delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government suspended direct flights between Canada and India. 

Between Air Canada and Air India, there are typically eight non-stop flights from Vancouver to Delhi each week during the summer, and 10 in the winter, according to Vancouver International Airport.