Air Canada temporarily suspends flights between Vancouver and Delhi

Air Canada is temporarily suspending its flight route between Vancouver and Delhi, India, because of a flight path disruption due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The flights have been diverting to avoid Russian and Ukrainian airspace, and the extended length means there’s an added stop for refuelling — direct flights are no longer possible.

In addition, wind and weather conditions that make routes to South Asia more difficult in the summer months will take effect soon. All these factors have compounded to make the Vancouver to Delhi route unviable for Air Canada, the carrier said in a statement Wednesday.

Until recently, Air Canada offered a direct flight from YVR to Delhi that took approximately 15 hours — considerably shorter than flights with time-consuming stops in Europe or China.

Air Canada will suspend service between Vancouver and Delhi from June 2 until September 6.

“Air Canada remains committed to the India market and will be resuming non-stop flights between Vancouver and Delhi beginning September 6,” it said. “Air Canada continues to monitor global situations very closely and may reinstate its Vancouver-Delhi route earlier if conditions permit.”

In the meantime, customers scheduled to travel from Vancouver to Delhi (or vice versa) with Air Canada will be automatically re-scheduled on alternate flights to reach their destination at no additional cost. New itineraries may have more stops or take longer.

Several other airlines offer service to Delhi. According to Google Flights, Air India is still offering direct service to Delhi through the summer months. Daily Hive has reached out to the airline to confirm.

Google Flights