Air India suffers massive loss by closure of Pakistani airspace

The closure of Pakistani airspace led to losses amounting to INR 600 million for Air India, according to reports in the India media.

Pakistan had shut its airspace on February 27, the day it shot down two Indian military jets for violating the Line of Control (LoC).

According to reports, 400 flights per day were affected by the closure as they were either re-routed for cancelled. Out the airlines, Air India was the worst hit as it flew 66 weekly services to Europe and 33 to the US. These routes mostly flew through Pakistani airspace and the majority of flights had to be cancelled or diverted.

Reports further state that Air India flights travelling west can no longer use Pakistani airspace and need to swing across Gujrat and fly over the Arabian Sea to reach North America and Europe. The most problematic of these are Air India flights to US cities of New York, Washington, Newark and Chicago.

Private Indian airlines, Jet Airways and SpiceJet have also had to cancel their flights between Delhi and Kabul.