US-Iran conflict threatens nearly half of India’s international travel

Iran Israel conflict threatens half of India's departures

• Nearly half of India's international flights go to Gulf countries
• UAE alone accounts for one in four outbound Indian passengers
• Iran-Israel conflict may cause major flight delays and rerouting

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Flight disruptions triggered by the escalating conflict between US, Israel and Iran could disrupt nearly half of India’s aviation traffic, underscoring the country’s reliance on West Asian air corridors for global connectivity.

Nearly half of India’s international departures are to Gulf destinations, a Moneycontrol analysis of tourism ministry’s departure data shows, making the region central not just for transit traffic but also for labour mobility and tourism flows.

Prolonged airspace restrictions or flight rerouting across the Strait of Hormuz region can affect millions of passengers and airline operations.

In 2024, departures to West Asian countries — the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran and Israel — reached 14.6 million passengers, accounting for about 47 percent of India’s total outbound international traffic of 30.9 million departures.

The dependence is concentrated in a few markets. The UAE alone accounted for 7.79 million departures in 2024, roughly one in every four international passengers flying out of India.

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Saudi Arabia followed with 3.42 million departures, reflecting strong travel linked to employment, religious tourism and business ties.

Other Gulf hubs also remain critical aviation nodes. Departures to Qatar stood at 1.14 million, while Kuwait and Oman together accounted for nearly 1.77 million passengers.

Even smaller corridors such as Bahrain handled steady volumes, underscoring the region’s role as a transit backbone connecting India to Europe, North America and Africa.

Traffic through these routes has also expanded rapidly after the pandemic.

Total departures to West Asian countries rose from 12.8 million in 2019 to 14.6 million in 2024, outpacing overall international travel growth and increasing India’s exposure to geopolitical risks in the region.

Airlines may face longer flying times, higher fuel costs and scheduling disruptions if airspace closures persist.

For passengers, this would mean fare volatility, delays and reduced connectivity, especially on routes heavily dependent on Gulf hubs for onward travel.

With West Asia functioning as India’s aviation bridge to the world, continued instability in the region risks turning a geopolitical conflict into a large-scale aviation disruption.