Recent reports from multiple Indian media outlets and Reuters show that, under the continued pressure of Pakistan's airspace ban, India's national airline, which is already financially strained, is pushing to lobby the Indian government to use the airspace over China's Xinjiang region, in order to alleviate the huge cost pressure caused by detours.
The crisis began with the India-Pakistan conflict this year. Pakistan, for security reasons, closed its northern airspace and extended the ban multiple times. This has deprived Air India's long-haul flights between Asia and Europe of a key air corridor, forcing them to take detours through the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, or Central Asia. The sharp increase in flight time by 2-3 hours per trip is accompanied by a straight-line rise in operational costs such as fuel consumption and crew working hours. The idea of Air India is that if it can obtain the right to use the airspace over Xinjiang, India's national airline will not only significantly reduce flight time and cut operating costs, but also have the potential to reshape its market competitiveness through an efficient route network. However, the opening of airspace involves complex procedures such as bilateral aviation agreement negotiations and security cooperation. It is estimated that India's survival-oriented lobbying on its own will not succeed.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1849304655245312/
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