Indian carriers will now be able to save time and money, with Pakistan opening its airspace on Tuesday, nearly four-and-half months after shutting it down following the Balakot airstrikes. "Ever since Pakistani airspace was closed, we had to reroute our flights south of Pakistan. Flying time for long haul flights towards the US increased by 90 minutes, fuel usage also increased," said an Air India spokesperson. Explaining the relief, he added, "As Pakistan airspace is open now, aircraft utilisation will go up while crew requirement will come down by 25%." Pakistan too suffered a loss of nearly $100 million in the form of overflight charges, parking and landing charges.

Source: dna July 16, 2019 23:26 UTC