NEW DELHI, November 15: Air India has resumed non-stop flights to New York and Newark from Delhi and Mumbai following the easing of airspace restrictions, reducing travel time on these routes by around five hours.
The airline announced on Sunday that all four India-New York routes are now operating without technical stopovers. The direct services had started operating from the first week of November, after Air India began using Iraqi airspace, sources had told PTI on November 6.
Air India operates one daily flight to New York and four weekly flights to Newark from Delhi, using Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
From Mumbai, the airline provides daily services to New York and three weekly flights to Newark, operated with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
With the resumption of non-stop operations, the journey time between Delhi and Mumbai and the two US destinations has come down to approximately 17 hours from around 22 hours earlier. The longer journeys had required a technical stop in Rome, Italy, for refuelling.
“With airspace restrictions eased, Air India has now resumed non-stop operations on all four India-New York routes,” the airline said.
Flight operations had been affected by the closure of Pakistani airspace and restrictions across parts of the Middle East amid regional tensions. These developments forced airlines to take longer routes, increasing flying hours and fuel costs.
Earlier, Air India flights to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport were routed through Jordan and Egypt, with a refuelling stop in Rome.
A senior airline official had said last month that the impact of airspace restrictions, particularly amid the West Asia crisis, was more severe than the previous year. The official noted that additional diversions towards the south resulted in longer journeys and higher fuel expenses.
