Mumbai, May 2 (IANS): Air India cancelled 35 flights to and from Mumbai Monday, the sixth day of the strike by almost half of the state-run carrier's 1,600 pilots, official sources said.

The airline has already suspended reservations for the next few days.

The non-availability of pilots has compelled the national carrier to drastically curtail flight schedules for the next week, the sources added. The details of the schedule, effective till May 6, have been posted on its website.

Next week, Air India would deploy wide-bodied aircraft like the B-747 and B-777, as also Air India Express's B-737 and two aircraft availed from external sources for domestic operations.

The airline is, however, operating all its scheduled services on long haul routes to and from the US, Britain and Europe, southeast Asia (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong), China and the Gulf region.

Flights of Air India's subsidiaries - Air India Express and Alliance Air - were also on schedule.

The striking pilot-members of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) are mainly those who worked in the erstwhile Indian Airlines, which was merged with Air India. They are demanding pay parity with Air India pilots and other issues related to work conditions.

The pilots remained unmoved by the chaos. They took out a candle-light march at Gateway of India here Sunday evening demanding pay parity and alleging that the management was not willing to invite them for talks.