India’s civil flight operations is estimated to have seen nearly 1,000 cancellations since the launch of Operation Sindoor, during the early hours of May 7. With an average of 170-180 flight cancellations a day, this is just under 5% of the total number of departures.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and relevant aviation authorities issued a series of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) announcing the temporary closure of 32 airports across northern and western India for all civil flight operations, effective from May 9 to May 14.
Though both India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday, the airports continue to remain shut.
Most of the shut airports, including those based in Bhuj, Ambala, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Hindon and Jaisalmer, are also Indian Air Force stations. These airports do not see as high a passenger traffic as some of the tier 2 cities, like Pune, Kochi or Lucknow, and so the volume of cancelled flights is lower.
“Given the circumstances, this is an elevated — albeit fairly low — rate of cancellation,” said London-based aviation analytics company Cirium. Since the start of May, India’s average daily scheduled departures have been between 3,800 and 3,900, according to Cirium.
A report by HSBC Global Research released on Friday said that Indian airlines like IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet will face a revenue loss of Rs 30 crore per day. These cancellations include international flights also. IndiGo suspended flights to Almaty and Tashkent. Air India suspended flights to Tel Aviv.
“We calculate revenue loss of Rs 16.6 crore and an Ebit loss of Rs 7 crore for IndiGo, revenue loss of Rs 2.3 crore and Ebit loss of Rs 1.5 crore for SpiceJet and revenue loss of Rs 10.5 crore and Ebit loss of Rs 5 crore for Air India on a per day basis,” the report added.
Due to the closure of Pakistan airspace for Indian carriers since April 24, Indian airlines are forced to reroute flights from the north to the south of the country before heading west to destinations in Europe, the UK, Central Asia and North America.
Not only has this rerouting added more travel time to flights, but it has also increased operating costs since it causes more fuel burn. Air India, for instance, now has to make a stop at Vienna for refueling flights heading to North America.