Indian Airlines to Face Millions of Rupees in Daily Costs Due to Closure of Pakistan’s Airspace

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) — The closure of Pakistani airspace will result in Indian airlines facing daily additional expenses amounting to millions of rupees for international operations.

Currently, around 70 to 80 two-way flights from India use Pakistani airspace daily, and at times, this number exceeds 100.

These flights, operating between India and Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Central Asia, rely on Pakistani airspace for efficient routing.

Air India, Air India Express, SpiceJet, IndiGo, and Akasa Air are among the Indian carriers that frequently utilize Pakistani airspace. In addition to commercial flights, special and cargo flights from India also depend on these routes.

The closure will result in extended flight durations, with Indian airlines expected to face an additional 2 to 3 hours of travel time per flight.

To navigate the situation, Indian carriers will have to resort to two alternative routes.

One involves operating flights over the sea from Mumbai and Delhi via Muscat and Doha.

The second alternative will require Indian airlines to rely on Chinese airspace.

These rerouted flights will significantly increase daily operational costs, particularly in terms of additional fuel consumption, costing Indian airlines crores of rupees each day.

Flights using Pakistani airspace originate from cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Goa, and others.