Pakistan Airspace Closure: Which Routes to India Stand to Lose the Most

If rerouting becomes the new normal, India risks losing its edge as a fast, affordable hub, and that will hit more than just airlines. The immediate blow is to outbound tourism, particularly to emerging favorites like Central Asia, but a prolonged airspace closure could threaten inbound recovery as well.

Pakistan’s announcement of airspace closure has forced Indian airlines to reroute international flights – most of them heading to Europe, North America, Middle East, and Central Asia.

The hardest hit in this may be the Central Asian countries, rising stars in India’s outbound travel market. IndiGo cancelled its Thursday flights to Almaty and Tashkent, while departures to Tbilisi and Baku were delayed. A Delhi-Baku flight that typically takes 3.5 hours stretched past 4.5 hours, while the Delhi-Tbilisi leg nearly doubled in duration to almost 7 hours.

While IndiGo has said in a note it is reviewing the situation it hasn’t announced any blanket cancellations for Friday.

“These are low-cost routes that can’t absorb a two-hour detour. Some of these routes might not survive,” an aviation analyst told Skift. “And it’s not just viability, airlines can't hike up fares too much or they stand to lose passengers.”

This will directly hit tourism to countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia that have been investing in Indian tourists. An Agoda report in December had noted that Indians are exploring destinations like Azerbaijan and G