India is expected to retaliate by closing its air space for Pak flights
New Delhi: Several flights run by Indian operators on Friday were rerouted taking an alternative route through the Arabian Sea, Iran and China to avoid Pakistan after the neighbouring country announced to close its air space for all Indian carriers. India is expected to retaliate by closing its air space for Pak flights.
There were some Indian flights such as Air India’s Delhi to London and Vancouver to Delhi in the Pak air space when the closure was announced. They were allowed to cross over while all others scrambled to take alternative routes leading to delay in flights.
"A0220/25 NOTAMN Q)OPXX/QRACD/IV/NBO/W/000/999/2945N06905E999 A) OPKR OPLR B) 2504241230 C) 2505232359EST E) PAKISTAN AIRSPACE NOT AVBL FOR INDIAN REGISTERED ACFT AND ACFT OPERATED/OWNED OR LEASED BY INDIAN AIRLINES/OPERATORS INCLUDING MILITARY FLIGHTS. F) GND G) UNL,” is how the notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by Pak on closure of its airspace read.
Apart from taking longer travel time, the flight fares are expected to shoot up by 8 to 12 per cent the airlines said due to higher fuel consumption and operational charge. Flights towards Europe, North America, Central Asia and Russia too be impacted. For instance a Delhi to Dubai flight will be an hour longer and long distance flights like that of Delhi will need a stopover in between for fuel. Several passengers who wanted a rescheduling or cancellations due to the situation complained that the airlines were charging for that. Airlines said the pricing is dynamic.
IndiGo on Friday said some of its international flights remain impacted by the Pakistan airspace closure and the airline is closely monitoring the situation. On Thursday, the carrier had cancelled some international flights including the flights from Delhi to Almaty and Tashkent.
In a post on X on Friday, IndiGo, which operates around 2,200 flights daily, said it is closely monitoring the situation following the sudden airspace closure by Pakistan and that some of its international flights remain impacted.
“Due to the closure of Pakistan’s airspace, circa 50 international routes operated by IndiGo will require longer sectors and, hence, may be subject 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 27th of April until at least 7th of May and to Tashkent from 28th of April until 7th May 2025. We regret the inconvenience caused to our customers and assure them that we’re looking at all options to minimize disruptions. We expect our customers’ understanding as these are reasons beyond our control. Rescheduling and cancellations can be managed through our website,” IndiGo Spokesperson said.
