NEW DELHI: The expanding war in West Asia is giving twin nightmares to airlines – especially Indian ones due to the closure of Pakistan airspace to them – and passengers stuck here and abroad.
Connectivity remains the primary concern as bringing Indians stranded overseas safely home is the highest priority. Second, a sharp hike in operating costs for airlines along with a demand-supply mismatch has led to fares skyrocketing for passengers. Airlines say a minimum 10%-12% hike in West Asian fares is unavoidable even as they keep an eye on changing airspace closures in war zones.
Air India has done a payload analysis and if Saudi and Oman airspaces get impacted, its flights to Europe, UK and North America will become unviable.
Govt is yet to clear Air India’s request to allow its Boeing 787-9s (not AI’s legacy Dreamliners) and Airbus A350s to fly from Delhi to Leh, enter China passing a waypoint called Hotan, and then take the Central Asia route to the west – bypassing the entire war zone.
“The B787-9s and A350s have additional oxygen storage which allows them a longer time to descend to 10,000 feet by flying out of the high-terrain region in case of single-engine failure.
All studies have been done and this has been found technically feasible,” said a person familiar with the deliberations.
AI has made a strong case for getting clearance for the Hotan route, saying it will rid it of the “constant nuisance” of Pakistan airspace closure.
Western airlines like Lufthansa and United are not impacted much by the West Asian crisis when it comes to flights to and from India, thanks to Pakistan airspace being open to them.
The increase in operating costs of carriers has led to a rise in ticket prices, with demand-supply mismatch adding to the fire. For instance, an Indian studying in Ireland who came to New Delhi in Feb to attend his grandfather’s last rites now faces fares of up to Rs 4 lakh to return to college.
A senior executive at an Indian airline said: “Insurance costs for flights to West Asia have soared by as much as Rs 30 lakh to 40 lakh for a wide body’s return trip and Rs 90 lakh to Rs 1 crore for a wide body’s return journey. Aviation turbine fuel price this month was hiked by 6%. The rupee keeps crashing to new all-time lows. We have to take much longer routes. Our costs have gone through the roof. The flights to West Asia hardly have any passengers and are full on the way back.”
With flights reduced and huge uncertainty over operations, airlines say they are having a tough time selling tickets. “We are unable to sell inventory on these flights in advance and filling up aircraft on short notice is leading to low flight loads, resulting in a higher cost of operation,” an executive said.
“Pakistan airspace closure started on April 24, 2025, and operating costs for Indian carriers with substantial wes-tern operations like AI Group and IndiGo have risen since then. We have been asking for fiscal relief like from excise or GST,” said an official.
