Air India will reduce the frequency of flights to the UAE, Oman and Qatar post-Eid as a temporary step amid crew and plane shortages.

The Tata-owned airline will cancel one weekly flight on both sides between Delhi to Dubai and Abu Dhabi each, as well as Delhi and Muscat from the last week of April to May, India's financial website moneycontrol.com reported, citing multiple sources.

Air India and budget carrier Air India Express are aligning their networks, causing several Air India flights to be cancelled, the website reported, citing an unnamed Air India official.

Moreover, the airline will not operate its weekly Delhi-Muscat flights on Saturdays from April 29 to May 27 and its weekly Delhi-Doha flights on Sundays from April 30 to May 28, according to circulars issued by Air India to travel agents.

Similarly, Air India will not operate its Delhi-Dubai flight on Tuesdays from May 2 to 30 and its Delhi-Abu Dhabi service on Wednesdays from May 3 to 31.

On the other hand, another airline official said that Air India has temporarily increased the flights between India and the UAE in April due to the upcoming Eid holidays, the report said.

Air India Express has increased its number of services from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai and Abu Dhabi from five to six, Thiruvananthapuram international airport said in a statement on April 12.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com)