Pakistan airspace closure hits Afghan, Kazakh, Russian airlines

Pakistan airspace closure hits Afghan, Kazakh, Russian airlines

1. The closure of Pakistan’s airspace, since the Indian Air Force (IAF) strikes in Balakot has affected international flights to and from India. The worst affected are airlines from West and Central Asia as their proximity to India and Pakistan means that they have to now take a much longer route to comply with the ban.
2. The Afghan Civil Aviation Authority has said that the country has suffered a loss of $8 million as planes now coming or going to Afghanistan from India have to take a longer route by flying over Iran, that results in greater fuel consumption. This has added to the overall cost and pushed up ticket prices.
3. Further, Russian airline Aeroflot has said that the increase in flight duration by two hours has resulted in a mismatch with a vast majority of connecting flights, hitting transit passengers. Many air travellers flying to Europe take Aeroflot’s one-stop flights via Moscow because of attractive airfares offered by it.