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Air India is stopping one of its routes to the US, citing fewer available planes and longer flights caused by the monthslong partial closure of Pakistan’s airspace.
The flag carrier announced Monday that it plans to suspend flights between Delhi and Washington, DC, starting September 1.
Since it was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022, Air India has undergone an ambitious transformation to expand and modernize. That includes upgrading planes with newer seats.
Last month, it began retrofitting 26 of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which means several of them will be undergoing work at any given time until the end of next year.
The airline has also faced difficulties with some of its routes since Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian carriers in late April, following regional conflict between the two countries.
In Monday’s announcement, it said this has resulted in “longer flight routings and increased operational complexity.”
Because some of its US routes already stretched the limits of their planes’ maximum ranges, flying around Pakistan has required fuel stops.
The Delhi-to-DC route, Flight 103, could previously fly directly north and over the Arctic Circle — but it has stopped to refuel in Vienna since April.
That means what was once a roughly 15-hour flight now takes about 19 hours, including around 60 minutes on the ground in the Austrian capital.
Air India said passengers who have already booked journeys between Delhi and Washington, DC, from September 1 would be offered a choice between rebooking on another flight or a full refund.
The airline said it will still fly to four US airports: New York JFK, Newark, Chicago O’Hare, and San Francisco.
Interline agreements with Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines mean passengers could get a connecting flight to Washington, DC, on the same ticket.
However, all of these journeys now take longer since Air India has to fly around its neighboring country to reach the US.
For example, Flight 101, from Delhi to JFK, takes about 16 hours — two hours longer than before the airspace closure.
This route also made fuel stops in Europe for a few weeks, but has flown direct since mid-May.
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