On 24 April, Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian aircraft, cutting off a key pathway for Indian airlines to reach destinations north and west of India. The inability to fly through Pakistan has impacted Air India’s long-haul flights to North America the most, requiring new routing and fuel stops for most flights.
Refueling in Vienna and Copenhagen
Without access to Pakistan’s airspace, the distance from Delhi to destinations in North America becomes too great for a single flight and a fuel stop becomes necessary. Air India has established Vienna (VIE | LOWW) and Copenhagen (CPH | EKCH) as primary refueling stops, with Vienna seeing most of the traffic.
The re-routing and extra stop for fuel is adding between three and six hours to the total trip time, mostly affecting flights to/from Delhi (DEL | VIDP). For example, AI127 from Delhi to Chicago previously used Pakistan’s airspace to travel north from Delhi, taking the flight on a polar region routing that covered about 12,500 kilometers, only about 500 kilometers longer than the great circle routing. The average time for that flight over the past 30 days is 14:47.
With the need to route around Pakistan and stop for fuel, the flight now travels nearly 15,000 km and takes more than 19 hours in total (including time spent refueling).
Eastbound flights also affected
Some eastbound flights have also required a fuel stop. Depending on distance and aircraft type, some of Air India’s flights from North America are also stopping in Vienna or Copenhagen on their return legs.
Interestingly, Air India’s flight between Delhi and San Francisco is only affected when traveling from San Francisco to Delhi as the flight from Delhi travels eastbound to take advantage of winds. We’ve previously written about the special eastbound routing used by some Air India flights.
Returning to Delhi from San Francisco non-stop, AI174 averaged a flight time of 15:25. With the new fuel stop in Vienna, the total trip time is now more than 20 hours.
Regional flights adding time, too
IndiGo’s flight 6E1806 between Tashkent and Delhi is perhaps the starkest example of the effects on regional flights. The pre-ban routing took the flight north through Pakistan, lasting an economical 2:18 on average. The flight is now routing around Pakistan, traveling through Iran and Turkmenistan now for a new flight time of about 5:30 covering 2.5 times the distance as the old route.
More fuel, more time, for how long?
The NOTAM prohibiting Indian aircraft in Pakistan’s airspace is currently scheduled to last through 23 May 2025, though it is not yet know how the current tensions between Indian and Pakistan will affect any extension or early removal of the prohibition. For the foreseeable future it seems that Indian airlines will to plan for the long way around.
6 Responses
Airlines industries are going to be the worst sufferer due to the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan.
I clicked on see all air india routes I don’t know why it showed routeover pak airspace.
I wonder why Air India’s SFO DEL polar flights cannot make it to DEL without a fuelling stop. Pakistan air space is a small part of the flight route and can they not take a small diversion by flying over China? Appreciate any insights.
The SFO-DEL polar flight is operated by a twin-engined Boeing 777, and in the event of an engine failure, the aircraft’s minimum safe drift-down altitude is significantly lower than the average elevation of the Tibetan Plateau, the Northern Himalayas, and the Karakoram ranges. These mountainous areas pose a serious terrain clearance risk under ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) conditions. Additionally, there are very few alternate airports in that region capable of handling a widebody aircraft in distress, which further complicates route planning. That’s why routing over China and Tibet isn’t a feasible detour, even if it appears shorter on the map.
Thank you for explaining this quite well
Air India started flying around Himalayas and Tibetan plateau on northern routes, almost 18 hours non-stop.