Direct flights to Thailand, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from September
New direct international flight routes from India: Akasa Air announces flight to Thailand, and Indigo has one new direct route each to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, while Air India has stopped a Washington DC route. Check details here…
FREQUENT flyers in India can celebrate some new international routes effective from September 2025, as airlines announced multiple new direct flights to Thailand (Akasa Air), and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (IndiGo).
Meanwhile, Air India has stopped a direct flight to Washington DC (US), due to fleet retrofit. We bring you all the details, to keep track.
Akasa Air to start Mumbai-Phuket flights
In its first foray into Southeast Asia, low-cost carrier Akasa Air has launched direct flights from Mumbai to Phuket in Thailand, effective from September 20, 2025.
Notably, this is the sixth international destination for the three-year-old airline which began operations on August 7, 2022. It currently flies to Abu Dhabi (UAE), Doha (Qatar), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait City (Kuwait), and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
IndiGo direct flights: Mumbai-Tashkent, Mumbai-Almaty
Domestic carrier IndiGo has announced new international routes from next month, with four weekly flights each from Mumbai to Tashkent and Mumbai to Almaty. This comes after the airline launched Mumbai to Tbilisi (Georgia).
In an official release on August 12, IndiGo said that it will fly four weekly direct flights connecting Mumbai to Tashkent in Uzbekistan and Almaty in Kazakhstan, effective from September 1 and 2, 2025 respectively.
These routes had been previously suspended in April following operational constraints due to the Pakistan airspace closure.
Air India to suspend Delhi-Washington DC route. Here's why…
Air India will suspend flights between the Indian and US national capitals Delhi to Washington DC from September 1, due to non-availability of Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes amid a retrofit drive, PTI reported.
The route had five weekly flights, which will be impacted. The airline said the move comes due to a “combination of operational factors to ensure reliability of its overall route network”. The retrofit of the legacy 26 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner planes is expected to be completed by July 2027.
What should passengers with prior bookings do?
Air India said that passengers with bookings to or from Washington DC beyond September 1 will be contacted and offered alternative travel arrangements, including re-booking on other flights or full refunds, as they prefer. per their individual preferences.
What are the alternatives to the direct flights?
The statement from AI said that customers will continue to have options of one-stop flights to Washington DC via four US gateways — New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Chicago, and San Francisco.
