Pak airspace ban costs Air India Rs8.2b

Lahore: With Pakistani authorities extending its airspace ban for India for more than 40 days now, the impact it has had on Air India’s operations has risen from severe to perhaps unsustainable, top aviation industry sources said.

Air India has faced losses of over Rs8. 2 billion, due to longer detours, increased fuel waste, and longer flight times. The airline is losing Rs200 million (average) a day, with its flights to North America being routed over Europe, with halts for refueling at Vienna or Copenhagen.

📉 Air India Is Increasingly on Edge as Financial Stress Grows

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has also sounded out the Indian government on the deteriorating financial pressure in a formal letter. “If the current situation continues, we will have no other option but to cease production,” Wilson was quoted as saying by The Economic Times.

In September 2022, Air India had put in place a turnaround plan ‘Vihaan’, with an aim to turn profitable by the financial year 2026-27. However, the fund is likely to be delayed in achieving these financial recovery targets due to the disruptions driven by the ban on airspace.

“We still have a little more work to do before we get to where we want to be,” Wilson said in an interview, referring to the airline’s five-year turnaround plan.

💬 “Not Just Turbulence — It’s a Full-Blown Storm”

Industry insiders say Air India is not the only airline feeling the pressure. Although exact losses of other Indian carriers are not known, they are believed to run into billions of rupees in total.

“This is no longer just turbulence, this is a typhoon for Indian aviation,” said an Indian aviation official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There would also be other costs, the airline said in a statement: “The 40-day closure of Pawan Hans has shattered the flight logistics, resulted in excessive operating costs, and has messed up the global schedule.”

🌐 More Broadly: Cuts and Hikes?

With no end in sight to the diplomatic impasse, aviation experts warn that Indian carriers may soon be left with no alternative but to pare back services or raise ticket prices, leaving the suffering in the lap of passengers.

The air restrictions have turned the skies, the most emblematic of boundaries, into something more: flowing, congested, expensive walls.