Pakistan has opened one of its 11 air routes for west-bound flights from India and airlines such as Air India and Turkish Airlines have started using it, said a senior government official on Saturday.
Even though the route P518 was opened on Thursday evening, American airline company United Airlines announced on Friday said its flight connecting Newark airport and Delhi airport has been suspended for two weeks. The closure of Pakistan airspace had increased the operational costs of Air India, as the Indian airline which flies to destinations in Europe and the US had to take longer routes.
The Delhi-Washington and Delhi-Chicago flights of the national carrier had been making a stop at Mumbai and Vienna for refueling and change of crew. According to sources the airline had on March 14 announced that it would combine the Mumbai-New York flight with its Mumbai-Newark flight from March 16 to May 31.
On March 13, it had announced the suspension of flights on the Delhi-Madrid and Delhi-Birmingham routes from March 16 "till further notice" due to "operational reasons".
