NEW DELHI: Aeroflot will operate a Delhi-Moscow flight on Sunday (March 6) before this route gets suspended along with the Russian carrier’s all or most other international flights. Under the India-Russia air bubble, both Aeroflot and Air India operate twice-weekly flights between Moscow and Delhi.
“The Aeroflot aircraft that flew Moscow-Delhi will be flying back to Moscow on Sunday as a scheduled flight. Subsequent flights may get suspended like all or most other international routes of the airline,” say sources.
An Air India flight (AI 195) operated from Delhi to Moscow SVO airport on Saturday. “We have Delhi-Moscow flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We are operating this route,” said an AI official.
The Delhi route has been doing very well for Aeroflot. The airline, say sources, used its Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 on this sector.
“The occupancy was over 80-85%. Even business class was seeing good demand,” say sources. AI deploys its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on this route. The Maharaja still overflies Russian airspace on its highly popular US nonstops.
US carrier United has suspended its Delhi-San Francisco and Mumbai-Newark direct flights after the decision to stop overflying Russian airspace. United’s Delhi-Newark and Delhi-Chicago flights are on as they avoid the airspace. While AI may look at adding more US nonstops, Vistara is also considering the same.
Senior officials across both Indian and international airlines say India could become the transit point between the west and the east as western airlines are not overflying Russian airspace. For instance, a London-Beijing flight will now have to fly towards Delhi, then northeast India before going northwards towards China.
“Oil prices are on fire with crude touching $120, so operating longer direct routes to avoid Russian airspace will be very expensive for airlines. If crude remains high, it may make sense to have a fuelling stopover somewhere like the Gulf or India. These options are being weighed,” said a senior official of a leading international airline.
“The Aeroflot aircraft that flew Moscow-Delhi will be flying back to Moscow on Sunday as a scheduled flight. Subsequent flights may get suspended like all or most other international routes of the airline,” say sources.
An Air India flight (AI 195) operated from Delhi to Moscow SVO airport on Saturday. “We have Delhi-Moscow flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We are operating this route,” said an AI official.
The Delhi route has been doing very well for Aeroflot. The airline, say sources, used its Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 on this sector.
“The occupancy was over 80-85%. Even business class was seeing good demand,” say sources. AI deploys its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on this route. The Maharaja still overflies Russian airspace on its highly popular US nonstops.
US carrier United has suspended its Delhi-San Francisco and Mumbai-Newark direct flights after the decision to stop overflying Russian airspace. United’s Delhi-Newark and Delhi-Chicago flights are on as they avoid the airspace. While AI may look at adding more US nonstops, Vistara is also considering the same.
Senior officials across both Indian and international airlines say India could become the transit point between the west and the east as western airlines are not overflying Russian airspace. For instance, a London-Beijing flight will now have to fly towards Delhi, then northeast India before going northwards towards China.
“Oil prices are on fire with crude touching $120, so operating longer direct routes to avoid Russian airspace will be very expensive for airlines. If crude remains high, it may make sense to have a fuelling stopover somewhere like the Gulf or India. These options are being weighed,” said a senior official of a leading international airline.