NEW DELHI: Amid the Ukraine war, Air India continues to fly from Delhi to London over Russia.
“We continue to operate our flights on the earlier route as the airspace is open and it is safe. It is not a ‘no fly zone’ so we consider it safe for flying across to Europe,” said sources in Air India.
The four airlines that are directly flying in the London-Delhi sector are Air-India, Vistara, British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic.
The flight duration is the shortest at 9 hours for Air India, as the airline hasn’t changed its flight path. Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and SIA, takes 9 hours 20 minutes to reach London as it is not consciously flying over Russia.
British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic are taking longer routes to avoid flying over Russia. Meanwhile, the fares in the Delhi-London sector have skyrocketed, partially due to more demand and lesser frequencies of flights and secondly due to the hike in the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
The cost of ATF has risen by Rs 19,000 per kilolitre since January this year. Longer routes also mean spending more on ATF, and this has a bearing on the fare.
One-way fares skyrocket
For one-way flight between Delhi and London, Air India charges Rs 81,852, Vistara Rs 95,154, BA Rs 1.42 lakh and Virgin Atlantic Rs 1.35 lakh. These are more than the return fare one would pay earlier on this sector