Air India Reroutes North America Flights via Mongolian Airspace to Cut Costs Amid Pakistan Airspace Closure

In response to Pakistan's ongoing refusal to allow Indian airlines to use its airspace since April 24, 2025, Air India has started using Mongolian airspace for some of its flights from Delhi to North America, including flights to San Francisco and Vancouver. This strategic diversion reduces operating costs through longer detours and unnecessary fuel burn on previous alternative routes over Europe. Some flights have technical stops at Kolkata to conform to crew duty regulations and conserve fuel. Air India operates over 70 weekly flights to North America, of which 54 depart from Delhi. The airline's transition is to maintain efficiency amid geopolitical tensions, bypassing costly European stopovers and minimizing cuts in passenger and cargo capacity. CEO Campbell Wilson promised continued efforts to find valuable alternatives and resuming direct flights at the earliest possible opportunity. This shift is essential as Air India is expected to bear an approximate $600 million annual cost increase due to the Pakistan airspace ban. Source: Aviation A2Z, The Hindu Business Line, PTI