New Delhi to US Flights Now Facing 2 to 4 Hour Delays Due to Pakistan’s Airspace Ban

KARACHI:

The Pakistan’s decision to shut the airspace to Indian aircraft has greatly affected Indian aviation through longer travel times, reduced flights, and increased fuel costs for tickets.

Currently, Indian pilots are compelled to cross longer distances and New Delhi to US flights, for example, have an additional four hours flying over the Arabian Sea to avoid Pakistans airspace. This has lead to more fuel consumption and operational cost, which with the African sky opened for business saw both international and some domestic fares going high.

It emerged days after New Delhi stepped up its actions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir following its accusation against Islamabad over the Pahalgam attack. In return Pakistan stopped trading with India and restricted the entry of Indians-owned and registered airlines aircrafts and Indian military aircraft.

It is estimated that before the cross of closure some 80 – 100 Indian flights violated Pakistani airspace every day. However, after that, flights to Central Asia, Europe, the United KINGDOM and the United States are significantly affected. The guidelines have affected Airlines like Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and others result in diversions and additional refuelling halt while flying to Baku and Tbilisi now takes additional 90 minutes.

Routes such as Delhi-Almaty have become totally unavailable, and a growing number of them are choosing foreign airlines.