June 18 (Reuters) - Air India said on Wednesday it will

cut international operations on its widebody aircraft by 15% for

the next few weeks, citing ongoing safety inspections and

operational disruptions following last week's deadly crash of

one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Authorities continue to investigate the crash of flight

AI171, which killed 241 people and marked the world's deadliest

aviation disaster in a decade.

The airline said in a statement that inspections had been

completed on 26 of its 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft, and

those 26 have been cleared for service.

The cuts, effective until at least mid-July, were being

implemented "to ensure stability of operations, better

efficiency and minimise inconvenience to passengers," the Tata

Group-owned airline said.

The remaining planes will be checked in the coming days and

additional checks are also planned for its Boeing 777 fleet, Air

India added.

Flight AI171, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed

shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing all but one on

board and about 30 people on the ground.

Earlier on Wednesday, Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran

said the flight that crashed had a clean engine history.

In an interview with Indian broadcaster Times Now,

Chandrasekaran said Air India flight 171's right engine was new

and installed in March 2025, and that the left engine was last

serviced in 2023.

The Dreamliner was fitted with GE Aerospace's GEnx

engines.

Air India also cited geopolitical tensions in the Middle

East and "night curfews in many European and East Asian

airspaces" as contributing factors behind flight cancellations,

which have totaled 83 over the past six days.