New Delhi [India], March 17 (ANI): Air India on Tuesday announced to operate additional flights on five routes between March 19 and 28 across North America and Europe, amidst the rising demand due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.

In an official release, Air India said that 36 additional flights on Delhi-London (Heathrow), Mumbai-London (Heathrow), Delhi-Frankfurt, Delhi-Zurich and Delhi-Toronto routes, which will add a total of 10,012 seats, will boost capacity and provide more choice to travellers when travel options remain limited.

'Amid continued high demand for international travel due to the ongoing situation in the West Asia region, Air India today announced it will continue to operate additional flights to key destinations in Europe and North America through 28 March 2026. Between 19 and 28 March 2026, Air India will operate 36 extra flights on the following routes: Delhi-London (Heathrow), Mumbai-London (Heathrow) Delhi-Frankfurt, Delhi-Zurich, Delhi-Toronto. Together, these flights will add 10,012 seats on the five routes, further boosting capacity and providing more choice to travellers when travel options remain limited. These services follow Air India's recently announced capacity augmentation between 10 and 18 March with 78 additional flights on nine routes,' the official release from Air India said.

On March 16, Air India and Air India Express announced to operate 48 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the West Asia region on March 16, the airline said.

This came amid the escalating conflict in West Asia. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in joint military strikes by the US and Israel on February 28. Iran has been targeting US assets in several Gulf countries and tensions have disrupted international supply chains. Iran has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical transit route for global energy supply.

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been appointed the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Tuesday that Ali Larijani, Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was killed in an overnight airstrike in Tehran.

'Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated tonight and joined the head of the destruction plan, Khamenei, and all the thwarted members of the evil axis in the depths of hell. The Prime Minister and I have instructed the [Israel Defence Forces] to continue hunting down the leadership of the regime of terror and oppression in Iran,' Katz said, as quoted by TPS.

He also confirmed that Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, was killed in the same series of strikes. (ANI)