Pakistan partially opens airspace for west-bound flights from India
Pakistan has opened one of its 11 air routes for west-bound flights from India, said a senior government official today. "Pakistan has been opening its airspace in tranches. On Thursday, it opened one of the 11 routes for west-bound flights. Therefore, airlines such as Air India and Turkish Airlines have started using it," the official said. Read the details here.
Pakistan had fully closed its airspace after the Balakot airstrike
Even though the route P518 was opened on Thursday evening, American airline company United Airlines announced yesterday that its flight connecting Newark airport and Delhi airport has been suspended for two weeks. Pakistan had kept its airspace fully closed after the Indian Air Force bombed the terror camp in Balakot on February 26, following the deadly Pulwama attack almost a fortnight ago.
Earlier, Pakistan opened its airspace for all flights except some
However, Pakistan on March-27, opened its airspace for all flights except for Bangkok, New Delhi, and Kuala Lumpur. "Since the route P518 that has been opened passes over south Pakistan, the air travel time for west-bound flights from Delhi won't decrease substantially," the official clarified.
Due to closed airspace, operating cost for AI has increased
Since February 26, many foreign airlines have decided to suspend their Delhi-bound flights as it was commercially unviable for them to take a longer route through Mumbai airspace. The operating cost for Air India, which flies to destinations in Europe and the US, has increased significantly as it had to take longer routes due to the closure of Pakistan airspace.
AI even requested its 'inactive' crew members to join 'immediately'
The Delhi-Washington and Delhi-Chicago flights of the national carrier had been making a stop at Mumbai and Vienna for refueling and change of crew. Air India had on March 15 requested its "inactive" crew members to "immediately" join work as the airline had been forced to cancel and reroute a number of the US and Europe-bound flights due to closure of Pakistan airspace.
The move will help the airlines to save costs
The airline had on March 14 announced that it would combine the Mumbai-New York flight with its Mumbai-Newark flight from March 16 to May 31. On March 13, it had announced the suspension of flights on the Delhi-Madrid and Delhi-Birmingham routes from March 16 "till further notice" due to "operational reasons". This move is expected to help the airlines save cost.
