Airlines knock on government’s door as West Asia war extends, seek relief for higher operating costs, says report

Airlines in India have approached Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu seeking relief from the government as ongoing conflict in West Asia has impacted operations and driven up costs, according to a CNBC-TV18 report today, citing sources.

Airline executives highlighted higher fuel costs, expenses due to the disruption in flight schedules and operations, and insurance as key factors, it added.

Mint could not independently verify the report.

Carriers have asked for relief on excise duty or goods and services tax (GST) on air turbine fuel (ATF) to offset the costs. They said that per flight cost is adding up as repatriation flights often run empty on one leg and there are also fewer passengers on flights to the region. Further, higher insurance premiums due to the war are an additional strain on finances, the channel reported.

Executives said that prolonged disruption amid the ongoing conflict could further impact their books and they would need to increase ticket prices to combat the financial strain, it added.

Airspace closures: Flights to West Asia, Europe, North America hit

The Ministry in a post on X also said that Indian airlines cancelled 279 international flights on Sunday (including 66 at Mumbai airport) due to the situation and that it is “closely monitoring airfares” to ensure there was no undue surge in ticket prices.

Notably, a number of countries in the West Asia region has closed their airspace as the war between US-Israel and Iran has extended into its second week. forcing flights from East and South Asia to re-route usual flight paths over the region.

A number of flights to Europe, North America and the Middle East travel over airspace in the impacted corridor. Further, for Indian airlines, access to Pakistani airspace is also restricted. In its situation update today, 9 March, the Aviation Ministry said that airlines are undertaking “necessary operational adjustments” to ensure passenger safety and orderly flight operations.

As of 7 March, passenger movement data for showed that a total of 51 inbound flights operated by Indian carriers arrived in India from the region carrying 8,175 passengers, the Ministry statement added.

Indian carriers to operate 50 flights to West Asia

In a statement today, Tata Group owned Air India and Air India Express said the carriers will operate 78 additional flights on nine routes from 10-18 March, “to support passengers amid the ongoing situation in West Asia”.

This includes the following routes: Delhi-New York (JFK), Delhi-London (Heathrow), Mumbai-London (Heathrow), Delhi-Frankfurt, Delhi-Paris (CDG), Delhi-Amsterdam, Delhi-Zurich, Delhi-Malé and Delhi-Colombo.

Further, Air India and Air India Express plan to operate a total of 32 additional non-scheduled flights to the UAE today for repatriation of stranded Indians, subject to prevailing conditions at the time departure.

• Air India will operate one round-trip each from Delhi and Mumbai to Jeddah
• Air India Express will operate one round-trip each from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kozhikode.

SpiceJet, meanwhile, is slated to operate at least three flights from Dubai and Fujairah to India on Monday.

Overall, according to the ministry release, Indian carriers — Air India. Air India Express, Akasa, IndiGo and SpiceJet — plan to operate 50 flights to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fujairah, Jeddah, Muscat and Ras Al Khaimah airports today, subject to operational feasibility and prevailing conditions.