New Delhi, May 14 -- Air India on Wednesday announced that it would suspend or reduce flights on more than two dozen international routes between June and August, citing airspace restrictions and record-high jet fuel prices.

Notably, the government recently increased jet fuel prices for international services while keeping them unchanged for domestic flights. The idea was to keep the bulk of India's air traffic shielded from the rise in crude oil prices.

Given Air India's global network, it is worse affected than Indian carriers focused on the short-haul home market. Another irritant is Pakistan's closure of its over-flight airspace, which has elongated long-haul flight spans.

Air India's suspension list includes Delhi-Chicago and Mumb...