Indian carriers are emerging as the hardest hit outside the Middle East, as airspace closures across the region amid an escalating conflict force widespread cancellations and diversions.
Airlines in India canceled more than 350 flights on Sunday as congestion at airports mounted with diverted traffic, people familiar with the matter said. Disruptions are expected to continue into Monday, marking a third consecutive day of cancellations, they said, asking not to be identified citing rules.
Air India Ltd. announced on X that flights to the US east coast — John F. Kennedy International, and Newark International airports — would operate with technical stops in Rome, but services to Birmingham, Zurich and Copenhagen were canceled. IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, said it was suspending select international flights using Middle Eastern airspace through March 2, and canceled services to London, Manchester, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
The strain on Indian carriers is compounded by the fact that they have already been unable to use Pakistani airspace since the middle of last year after a brief conflict. While rerouting over Iran added more than two and a half hours to flight times for the US, people familiar said that alternative paths skirting the entire Middle East would take even longer.
That would pile deeper operational and financial pressure on Indian carriers, compared to their European and North American counterparts, who retain some corridors via Turkey and Egypt.
Airlines from the South Asian nation have a significant exposure to the Middle East, as the region is home to a large Indian diaspora and serves as a hub for onward connections to Europe and North America. SpiceJet Ltd.’s entire international schedule for March is exposed to the Middle East, while Air India Express has 60% exposure and IndiGo 41%, Bloomberg Intelligence said in a note Monday. Air India’s full-service operations have a lower exposure at 8%, it added.
Some domestic services were also impacted, they said.
SpiceJet fell as much as 9.2% on Monday in Mumbai. India’s largest airlines IndiGo, which slumped nearly 8%, pared losses partially.
“The disruption is especially painful for Indian carriers as international routes provide a natural currency hedge against rupee depreciation — critical now with crude prices rising due to the war,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts including Eric Zhu wrote in a note.
IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air did not immediately respond to emails seeking more comments.
–With assistance from Eric Johnson.
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