International airlines are not affected by the ban from Pakistan airspaceTop Indian airlines Air India and IndiGo are bracing for higher fuel costs and longer journey times as they reroute international flights after Pakistan shut its airspace to them amid escalating tensions over a deadly militant attack in Kashmir. The nuclear-armed arch rivals have unleashed a raft of measures against each other in response, with India keeping a critical river water-sharing treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines. Aircraft fuel and oil costs usually make up for about 30 percent of an airline's operating costs, by far the biggest component. The same flight, through Pakistan airspace, took 5 hours 5 minutes on Wednesday. In 2019, India's government said that the closure of Pakistan airspace for about five months during tensions between the neighbours at that time caused a loss of at least $64 million to Air India, IndiGo and other airlines.

Source: bd News24 April 25, 2025 09:59 UTC