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The DGCA’s "mandatory guidance" comes as extended flight durations and mid-journey stoppages loom large over international travelers.
In the wake of Pakistan's airspace closure for Indian carriers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an urgent directive: airlines flying between northern India — primarily Delhi — and western destinations must apprise passengers at check-in about longer flying hours, possible enroute technical halts for refueling, and crew changes.
The DGCA’s "mandatory guidance" comes as extended flight durations and mid-journey stoppages loom large over international travelers. “Passengers will generally remain onboard such stops,” outlined DGCA Chief Flight Operations (CFO) Captain Shweta Singh in an advisory. Airlines have been instructed to revise catering plans based on the actual extended flight time, ensuring "adequate meals and beverages for the full duration," along with "additional hydration and dry snacks," and any "special meals as per requests."
To minimize disruptions during these unscheduled halts, airlines must guarantee emergency medical support and ground ambulances at technical stopover airports. Moreover, cabin crews are being specially briefed to handle increased passenger fatigue, discomfort, and any potential medical incidents during these longer journeys.
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Major Indian carriers operating Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, and Lucknow routes to the UAE, CIS nations, West Asia, Europe, the UK, and North America — including Air India Group, IndiGo, and SpiceJet — will be directly impacted. Flights from western and southern India remain unaffected. Akasa Air’s Gulf operations out of Mumbai also continue uninterrupted.
Air India, operating the lion’s share of long-haul flights to North America, Europe, and the UK, faces particularly harsh consequences. "Our North America nonstops may remain so or take a fuelling halt enroute depending on the conditions each day, each flight. Which means on a given day how are the wind flows and aircraft loads like, that call will be taken," explained an Air India official.
Veteran pilots reveal that to combat strong headwinds, they had been tactically favoring the Delhi–north Pakistan–Hindukush corridor since Afghanistan’s airspace closure post the Taliban's 2021 takeover. However, with Pakistan’s skies now off-limits, flights must detour southward — skimming Mumbai and Ahmedabad before swinging westward across the Arabian Sea towards Muscat — a longer, more grueling journey.
"This time of the year sees strong headwinds here which we till now avoiding with the Hindukush route," pilots caution. As a direct consequence, passengers booking fresh tickets may witness a surge in airfares — potentially spiking by 30-40%.
The DGCA advisory also compels airlines to formulate contingency plans for passengers missing onward connections and stipulates compensatory measures for delays breaching prescribed thresholds.
Prolonged routes mean ballooning operational costs — more fuel consumption, extended crew hours, higher airport charges — with Air India particularly vulnerable given its extensive transatlantic and European network.
IndiGo, grappling with fleet limitations, has already axed its Baku and Almaty services as the reconfigured routes have pushed flight distances beyond the range capabilities of its Airbus A320 family.
Following the Indian Air Force's Balakot airstrikes in 2019, Pakistan had similarly closed its airspace from February 27 to July 19, bleeding Indian airlines by a staggering Rs 700 crore, with Air India bearing the brunt.
