New Delhi: Air India has had a turbulent year, not just because of the horrific Ahmedabad crash of its flight AI-171 in June. The Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 also hurt the Tata Group-owned airline badly.
Following the deadly terror attack in Baisaran valley, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent men, Pakistan banned Indian aircraft from using its airspace in a tit-for-tat move after the Narendra Modi government imposed multiple punitive measures, including the suspension of Indus Water Treaty.
On Wednesday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said claimed that Pakistan’s closure of its airspace to Indian air carriers has resulted in a whopping Rs 4,000-crore loss for the airline over the last few months.
“The closure of Pakistani airspace has had a Rs 4,000 crore impact on Air India,” Wilson said at an event in New Delhi.
Wilson said that because of the airspace closure, flights to the west have been forced to be rerouted. He explained that this resulted in significant increase in fuel consumption, crew costs and turnaround times for the airline.
Air India had told the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation in June that losses would be around Rs 5,000 crore if the airspace closure remained in place.
The restrictions have resulted in flight durations for routes connecting India to Europe and the US – among Air India’s most lucrative international sectors – to increase by 60 to 90 minutes on average.
Pakistan first closed its airspace to Indian flights on April 24 for a month. The restriction has subsequently been extended several times.
Not just the closing of airspace and Ahmedabad crash and its repercussions, US tariffs, visa restrictions and geopolitical conflicts had delivered “quite unprecedented shocks” to the Air India system, admitted Wilson.
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