Air India: As Pak airspace opens, operation cost to come down by Rs 20L

Representational image

With Pakistan opening its airspace for all commercial airlines on Tuesday morning, Air India said operation costs for the one-way US and Europe-bound flights are likely to come down by Rs 20 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively.

Air India suffered a financial loss of around Rs 491 crore after Pakistan closed its airspace following the Balakot airstrikes of February 26, as it had to re-route its various international flights. An Air India spokesperson on Tuesday said, "As Pakistan airspace now open, aircraft utilisation will go up while crew requirement will come down by 25 per cent."

"Flight operation cost for USA-bound flight may come down by Rs 20 lakh one way and for Europe-bound flights, it may come down by Rs 5 lakh. From tonight, flight operation may be on the original schedule, meaning as was before the closure of Pakistani airspace," the spokesperson added.

In between February 26 and July 15, Pakistan had opened only two routes out of 11 for Indian fli7/16/2019 4:11:46 PMghts. These two routes passed over southern Pakistan.

After Pakistan on Tuesday issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) to lift all airspace restrictions, relevant authorities informed that India has also issued a revised NOTAM immediately thereafter.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates

Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies