Pakistan’s decision to close its airspace to Indian airlines has added to the financial pressure on India’s aviation industry through longer flight routes, higher fuel consumption and increased operating costs, journalist Kamran Khan has said.
Speaking on a private media outlet’s talk show, Khan said that Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian airlines on April 24, 2025, forcing carriers to take longer routes for several international destinations.
“Pakistan has subjected India to severe financial losses,” Khan said, arguing that the impact of the airspace closure continued beyond the military conflict between the two countries in May 2025.
Longer routes increase flight times, fuel consumption, crew hours and navigation costs while reducing the number of productive flights airlines could operate in a day, according to Khan.
Air India had informed the Indian government that if the closure continued for a year, it would face an additional annual burden of nearly 5,000 crore Indian rupees, or around $600 million.
Khan added that the financial pressure increased further as fuel prices rose. Indian government figures cited in the programme showed international jet fuel prices increasing from 60.50 Indian rupees per litre in March 2026 to nearly 142 Indian rupees per litre in May 2026.
He said that airlines normally spend around 40 percent of their operating costs on fuel, but that share can rise to 60 percent during periods of fuel-price volatility.
Khan also cited figures showing that Pakistan’s airspace closure forced Indian airlines to consume around 35 percent more fuel than they would on normal routes, while rising fuel prices further increased their costs.
Khan also cited IndiGo’s financial performance, saying its fuel bill rose 85.7 percent to 10,833 crore Indian rupees in the June 2026 quarter. He said that the airline had moved from a 2,176 crore Indian rupee profit in the same quarter a year earlier to a loss of around 238 crore Indian rupees.
He further said Indian airlines’ share of the international outbound market had fallen from 46 percent to 39.7 percent, while foreign airlines accounted for 60.3 percent of the market.
According to Khan’s assessment, the initial direct losses reached around 38,000 crore Indian rupees. He said that after including direct and indirect losses, the overall financial impact on the Indian government and aviation industry had reached around 50,000 crore Indian rupees, or $5 billion.
“The root cause of this disastrous damage was Pakistan’s decision in April 2025 to close its airspace to India,” Khan said.
