War strains flights, crews and wallets

Passengers seated (right or left) can see the Pyramids of Giza. “The tired pilot air india Operating flights to and from the West now often make the announcement on days with good visibility while flying over Egypt and over an extremely long route created by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.As of February 28, heading west from India (except for the west coast of North America) means flying over the Arabian Sea while avoiding Pakistani (for Indian airlines) and Iranian airspace (for all airlines); then turning right from Oman towards Muscat, Saudi Arabia or beyond, via Cairo to Europe, the UK and North America. It was the same route on the way back. The theater air traffic corridor covering the airspace of Afghanistan (Air India starts from Pakistan), Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel appears deserted, with almost all aircraft flying under this corridor. The corridors available in the region, like parts of Saudi Arabia, have also been affected by the war.Impact: The flight time of Air India’s Delhi-London direct flight has increased by 50% from about 8 hours in the past when Pakistan (Air India) and Afghan airspace was open to more than 12 hours after the Iran war. The 13-14 hour direct Mumbai-New York route has become a one-way flight via Rome, with travel time now approaching 21 hours. IndiGo uses wide-body aircraft from Norwegian Nordic Atlantic Airways, which bypasses West Asia entirely on the advice of EU regulators. They fly across the Arabian Sea to Africa, then turn right and head north to Cairo and beyond. Everyone returns by the same route.Passengers have faced steep rises in airfares and a sharp decline in travel options since February 28 due to the war in Iran, with the big three of Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways currently excluded. Airlines’ operating costs have soared, flights to the lucrative Gulf have declined and pilots of wide-body planes are tired. Here is how it affects different stakeholders:

indian operatorShrunk network: They used to have 400 to 500 flights a day between India and Western countries, but this number has dropped sharply since February 28 due to the closure of airports in Bahrain and Doha, although airports in the UAE remain open and offering slots sporadically. Currently, only a few places (such as parts of Saudi Arabia and Muscat) have regular flights to and from the region.Half of IndiGo’s 300 daily international flights go to the West, a number that has now dwindled to a handful. Air India Express has 110 daily connecting flights to West Asia, which has been reduced to 50 “temporary” connecting flights. Air India has 254 weekly scheduled flights to West Asia, which has now been reduced to 30-40. Gulf flights by Akasa and SpiceJet have also been reduced.Operating costs continue to rise: Since the outbreak of the Iran war, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices have actually risen every time the rupee hits new lows, which has become a daily feature. The current price per kilogram (kL) in Delhi and Mumbai is around $817, up from $779 per kilogram last month. But the Indian rupee has strengthened to 93.30 rupees against the US dollar from 91 rupees. As a result, all dollar-denominated costs—such as lease rentals and maintenance costs—are constantly escalating.On top of that, routes are getting longer, which means burning more expensive fuel. The Boeing 787 burns about 5 tons of fuel per hour, and the B777 burns about 7.5 tons of fuel per hour. If the flight time is increased by two hours, an additional 10-15 tons will be burned per flight. International flights by domestic airlines cost USD 817 per ton and the rupee to US dollar is 93.30 rupees, with the additional cost of fuel alone reaching 80,000 rupees per hour. Air India’s 358 weekly flights to the West, covering Europe, the UK and North America, are still operating.Today, Indian operators are importing much more fuel from India than usual so that if fighting in West Asia escalates, planes can return with passengers rather than being stranded. More fuel means a heavier aircraft. The heavier the aircraft, the more fuel it consumes.“At current operating costs, it doesn’t make sense to operate Western flights. We do this to keep our flyers connected. Flying an airplane has always meant challenging nature, with heavy metal tubes keeping it in the air. “Now, after the war in Iran, they are also challenging the economy,” a senior official said. Airlines’ pleas to the government for relief from ATF excise duty or value-added tax have so far been in vain.The impact this had on everyone, especially the Maharaja, was staggering. AI Group, IndiGo and Akasa impose fuel surcharges on their flights, ranging from Rs 199 to $200. The cost of insurance for round-trip narrow-body flights to West Asia has soared by Rs 30-40 lakh, while for wide-body round-trip flights it has soared by Rs 90-10 million.tired crewAir India sought and received an exemption from the flight duty time limit rule for its crew members from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as aircraft ply longer routes to and from the West. Regulators now allow pilots to fly for up to 11.5 hours, meaning two pilots can fly longer flights without the need for a third pilot to take their turns to rest en route. Since April last year, when Pakistani airspace was closed during Operation Sindoor, pilots have been flying longer routes. The war in Iran further lengthened an already long route.Pilots of AI’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner were hardest hit because the plane’s cockpit seats only had limited recline due to safety concerns. One B787 pilot had to say: “We are pushing our bodies to the limits of human endurance.” Others echoed the same sentiment. “Imagine sitting in uncomfortable office chairs for 11.5 hours straight, being 100% present the entire time because we were flying in close combat zones, from airspace close to Pakistan all the way to airspace outside of Turkey, and the GPS was constantly jammed and spoofed. Airlines should be required to increase pilot availability. God forbid, if something goes wrong, blame the pilot. This is the usual script. “Both AI and DGCA are aware of the difficulties and attribute them to extraordinary circumstances. AI has already converted 30 B777 pilots into the Dreamliner, which is expected to begin flying within two months.“We have formally sought coordinated flight time (FT) and flight duty period (FDP) exemptions from the DGCA. These exemptions were used only before the current Middle East airspace restrictions came into effect and are critical to maintain flight schedule integrity and minimize passenger inconvenience… All such exemptions are supported by safety risk assessments and will be implemented strictly as per the approved conditions,” Captain Manish Uppal, Senior Vice President (Flight Operations), AI, said in a recent mail to pilots.Turbulence hits passengersAfter the outbreak of war in Iran, passengers were forced to pay huge fees to fly to their destinations, and India was no exception. An Indian student who came to Delhi from Ireland in mid-February to attend his grandfather’s last rites spent Rs 1.80 lakh on a one-way ticket back to the university.Many are holding onto reservations for Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways this summer. If the war does not end quickly and these airlines do not resume flights soon, other options will become unaffordable during the upcoming summer travel months in India starting from early April.increase capacityHistorically, Gulf airlines have carried much of the traffic between India and the rest of the world through large hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. The sudden shortages from the Big Three have created a vacuum, with passengers already booked to travel after February 28 now looking for alternatives, so their options are as limited as those with new bookings.Air India is adding as many flights to the West as possible. In addition to increasing frequencies between Chennai and Frankfurt, Lufthansa has also deployed 500-seat Airbus A380s on the Munich-Delhi and Munich-Mumbai routes instead of the 280-seat A350s. SWISS will operate a second daily flight between Delhi and Zurich from March 19 to 24. Lufthansa is weighing options to allow more group airlines to fly to India. Only Lufthansa, SWISS and Alitalia currently fly to India; there are other group airlines that do not yet do so, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discovery and Eurowings.Apart from flights, the war is hurting India in some ways…medical device : Rising costs of medical-grade plastics, freight and natural gas are threatening medical supplies such as syringes and hospital disposables. Protracted disruption could trigger production cuts and price increasesPharmaceutical: Propane shortages have shut down pharmaceutical plants across states. The production of some essential medicines has been affectedfertilizer: LNG outage is impacting ammonia and urea production ahead of Sharif seasonRestaurant/Catering: Commercial LPG shortage is driving up costs and disrupting operationsair conditioner: LPG and petrochemical shortages are hurting air conditioning production ahead of summercar: Rising parts prices, natural gas shortages put pressure on auto production