NEW DELHI — A Manchester-bound IndiGo flight (6E 033), operated using a leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft, was forced to return to the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday, March 9, 2026. The flight was aborted mid-journey after the airline encountered unexpected “last-minute airspace restrictions” while attempting to enter Eritrean airspace, a critical segment of the alternative route currently being used to bypass the conflict zones in West Asia.
The disruption is a direct result of the intensifying Middle East crisis. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has recently barred aircraft registered with it—including those belonging to Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways, from which IndiGo leases its long-haul fleet—from using certain Middle Eastern airspaces, including Saudi Arabia. Consequently, Indian carriers like IndiGo have been forced to adopt significantly longer flight paths. The new route typically takes aircraft over the Arabian Sea, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Red Sea, and Egypt before entering European skies.
According to airline sources, the specific issue on Monday involved a failure to secure the necessary approvals from Eritrean authorities. Following a comprehensive risk assessment, the flight crew and ground operations decided it was safest for the aircraft to return to its origin in Delhi. “We are working with the relevant authorities to explore the possibilities of resuming the journey,” IndiGo stated, acknowledging that the evolving geopolitical situation in and around the Middle East may continue to cause diversions or longer flight times for its European services.
While IndiGo’s flights to London and other European cities are predominantly operated with the leased Boeing 787s, its services to Athens remain unaffected by this specific technical restriction as they are operated using the airline’s own Airbus A321 XLR planes. For passengers on flight 6E 033, however, the return to Delhi marks yet another logistical hurdle as international aviation continues to struggle with the cascading effects of regional warfare and shifting diplomatic boundaries.
