NEW DELHI: In a “Diwali gift” to travellers, Air India has once again made its flights between Delhi/Mumbai and New York (JFK and Newark EWR) nonstop since Wednesday, shaving close to four hours from the travel time of the one-stops these had become since the US-Iran war broke out this Feb 28. The airline's operations team, like that of other carriers, does constantly analyses enroute geopolitical situation and as soon as the risk rating for Iraq, Syria and Jordan reduced, it has started got a slightly shorter route available making the flights between Delhi and EWR; Delhi and JFK; Mumbai and EWR and Mumbai and JFK nonstop once again, skipping the Rome Fiumicino stop. Now the journeys become 15-16 hours, instead of the almost 20 hours they took with the Rome stop.The closure of Pakistan airspace since last April had made routes longer between Delhi and the west but the Iran airspace was open till Feb 28 when the US-Iran war broke out. Since then, the non-availability of Iran, Iraq and other enroute airspaces forced fuelling stops to be added.…
Iraq airspace reopens, Air India restores nonstop US flights, cuts Rome detours
In short
Air India resumed direct service connecting Delhi and Mumbai to New York's JFK and Newark airports on Wednesday after risk ratings dropped for Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. The routing change removes refueling stops in Rome that were introduced after the US-Iran war closed Iranian skies on February 28. Although travel times drop significantly, flights still operate under cargo and passenger limitations. Furthermore, these fueling detours could temporarily return in January because of seasonal winds and payload demands.
Key points
- Nonstop North American operations will continue through December but may require fueling…: Nonstop North American operations will continue through December but may require fueling stops again in January due to strong seasonal winds.
- Aircraft operating these restored corridors must carry passenger and cargo load penalties…: Aircraft operating these restored corridors must carry passenger and cargo load penalties to balance their onboard fuel requirements.
- Air India is waiting for Iranian airspace to eventually reopen so it can add more nonstop…: Air India is waiting for Iranian airspace to eventually reopen so it can add more nonstop services and Western capacity.