Pakistan Airspace Closure Impacts IndiGo Air India Flights.

IndiGo is suspending its Delhi-Tashkent and Delhi-Almaty flights until at least May 7, 2025, due to the continued closure of Pakistan's airspace for Indian carriers, which forces longer routes. Air India flights to the West may require refuelling stops depending on wind conditions and aircraft load. The closure impacts approximately 50 IndiGo international routes, potentially increasing airfares by 30-40%.

IndiGo will suspend its Delhi-Tashkent and Delhi-Almaty flights until at least May 7, 2025, due to the closure of Pakistan's airspace for Indian carriers, which requires them to take longer routes between northern India and the West. Air India's flights to the West may now need to take a fueling halt on a case-by-case basis, depending on wind conditions and aircraft load, officials said.

"Due to the closure of Pakistan's airspace, 50 international routes operated by IndiGo will need longer sectors and hence may be subjected to some slight schedule adjustments. With the same restrictions and limited rerouting options, unfortunately, Almaty and Tashkent are outside the operational range of IndiGo's current fleet. Hence, flights to Almaty stand cancelled from April 27 until at least May 7 and to Tashkent from April 28 until May 7 2025." IndiGo said in a statement.

The CIS routes of IndiGo are expected to take 80-90 minutes more via the longer route. Coupled with the flying time, some sectors are now out of range for its current fleet of Airbus A320 family planes. Air India officials say the impact on tier flights has been minimal so far, as they went through the same drill in 2019. Five long-haul flights of Air India were en route to India when Pakistan airspace was closed at 6 pm on Thursday. They had to take a fueling halt to fly to Delhi via the longer route.   

"Our North America nonstops may remain so or take a fuelling halt en route, depending on the conditions each day, each flight. This means on a given day, how are the wind flows, and how will aircraft loads like the call be taken?" said an AI official.

Senior pilots say they used to avoid headwinds while taking the Delhi north Pakistan Hindkush route to the West; the route being taken ever since Afghan airspace was closed for civilian flights in Aug 2021, Taliban taking over that country. Closure of Pakistan airspace means flights between northern India, Delhi, the largest hub of the region, and the West will divert close to Mumbai and Ahmedabad, then turn right over the Arabian Sea to head to Muscat and then fly to their destination. "This time of the year has strong headwinds here, which we have been avoiding with the Hindkush route till now," says pilots. Longer routes mean airfares for new bookings could rise by 30-40%. Foreign airlines are closely watching the India-Pakistan situation. While Pakistan has not barred foreign carriers, countries conduct their own risk assessments for overflying any region, and if they deem the geopolitical situation on the India-Pakistan border to be risky, some may suspend flights. When Pakistan closed its airspace in 2019, some North American airlines had suspended Delhi flights.

"Qatar Airways are watching the Indian Pakistan situation closely. While Pakistan has not barred foreign carriers, countries conduct their own risk assessments for overflying any region, and if they deem the geopolitical situation on the India-Pakistan border to be risky, some may suspend flights. When Pakistan closed its airspace in 2019, some North airlines had suspended Delhi flights.

"Qatar Airways confirms that all flights to and from India are operating as scheduled and remain unaffected by the current airspace closure; the airline is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to prioritise the safety and comfort of its passengers and crew. Passengers are advised to check the latest flight information," Qatar Airways said in a statement.

KLM said, "At this moment, we do not have any adjustments for our flights to India."

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