India expands alternate evacuation routes

India is expanding alternate evacuation routes for its stranded nationals as airspace restrictions across parts of the Gulf continue to disrupt direct connectivity, ANI reports, citing the Ministry of External Affairs.

Managing the evacuations: Over 1.4k Indian nationals, including students, have been moved out of Iran through land routes connecting to Armenia and Azerbaijan with government assistance. Similarly, 326 Indians have been evacuated from Israel via Jordan. The government has also set up a dedicated control room and 24x7 helplines, coordinating with embassies and state authorities to provide visa and logistical support.

Why it matters: Airspace restrictions across parts of the Middle East have sharply reduced India-Gulf aviation connectivity, with around 75% of the 3.3k scheduled flights cancelled since the war started. The scale of cancellations is constraining connectivity on a key corridor for passenger movement and evacuations, while forcing airlines to operate limited and rerouted services.

Air connectivity with UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia is partially operational with hundreds of flights operating daily. However, the flights to Kuwait and Bahrain are still facing disruptions, prompting the government to reroute evacuations from these countries through Saudi Arabia. Over 426k passengers have traveled on more than 2.1k flights between India and the UAE, even as restrictions over some airspaces continue to affect direct routes.

Transworld deploys cargo airlift

UAE-based Transworld Group chartered a cargo flight between Sharjah and Mumbai on 24 March to transport food and essential supplies as Gulf disruptions impact regular freight movement, according to a company statement. The move highlights an increasing reliance on ad hoc air capacity to maintain high-priority cargo flows on the India-UAE corridor. The logistics firm also deployed its SSL Godavari vessel, using sea capacity to further support trade during the disruption.

Lulu ramps India-GCC food shipments

UAE’s Lulu Group is increasing food shipments from India to GCC markets. The company has transported approximately 15k tonnes of food from India using 34 chartered flights, cargo vessels, and regular shipping services. Chairman Yusuffali M.A. met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to ensure continued supply of essential food items during the war, according to PTI.

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