Airspace Closure: Naidu Says Govt Assessing Situation, Working with Airlines for Solutions

The government is assessing the situation arising out of the Pakistan airspace closure and any decision will be taken only after a thorough understanding, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday as he emphasised that it is working with airlines for solutions.

Aspects related to airlines as well as passengers, including possible increase in airfares due to higher operational costs, against the backdrop of the airspace closure will also be assessed by the civil aviation ministry.

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed at least 26 people, Pakistan last week barred Indian airlines from using its airspace.

"We are assessing the situation... and working with airlines," the minister said.

The closure of the airspace is resulting in longer flying hours for their international flights, especially those flying out from north Indian cities, and pushing up the operational costs of airlines.

The minister said he has asked airlines to work out the possibilities and assessment in case the airspace closure for a longer time.

"We need to have a thorough understanding (of the situation) before taking any decision," he said in response to questions related to the airspace closure.

On whether there are any tentative plans to issue any guidance with respect to airfares for international flights in the wake of the airspace curbs, Naidu indicated that all aspects will be looked at.

"Anything that is going to be impacted (due to airspace closure)," will be looked into and if fares get impacted in a big way, then definitely, the ministry will look at it.

"We are assessing the situation... and working with airlines," the minister said.

The minister was speaking on the sidelines of the 'Aviation Horizon 2025' conference organised by AI Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) in the national capital.

In the current situation, the ministry is looking at the passenger aspects and ensure that safety is the key priority, Naidu said.

Indian carriers are scheduled to operate more than 6,000 flights to various international destinations, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed.

Over 800 weekly flights are operated by Indian airlines to and from north Indian cities to overseas destinations, including North America, the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, as per an analysis of the Cirium data.

On Friday, IndiGo said that around 50 international routes operated by it will require longer sectors and hence may be subject to some slight schedule adjustments.

"With the same restrictions and limited rerouting options, unfortunately, Almaty and Tashkent are outside the operational range of IndiGo's current fleet," it had said in a statement.