Air India on Sunday said it has resumed non-stop flights to New York and Newark from Delhi and Mumbai, following the reopening of restricted airspace, reducing overall travel time by up to five hours.

From the first week of this month, Air India began operating these direct flights without a stopover, with the airline using Iraq airspace, sources told PTI on November 6. Air India has one daily flight to New York and four weekly services to Newark from Delhi. All of them are operated with A350-900 aircraft.

From Mumbai, the airline flies daily services to New York and three weekly flights to Newark with Boeing 777-300 ER planes.

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Travel Time Cut By Five Hours After Airspace Restrictions Ease

With the easing of airspace curbs, Air India on Sunday said the total travel time for each flight on the routes to New York and Newark from Delhi and Mumbai has been cut down by around 5 hours to 17 hours.

Previously, the total travel time was around 22 hours due to an en route fuelling stop at Rome (Italy).

Pakistan, Middle East Airspace Curbs Forced Rome Stopover

This year, the closure of Pakistan airspace and airspace restrictions across parts of the Middle East amid regional conflict had significantly impacted flight routings between India and North America.

Subsequently, Air India's flights from Delhi and Mumbai to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) started operating with a technical stop in Rome for refuelling.

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"With airspace restrictions eased, Air India has now resumed non-stop operations on all four India-New York routes," the airline said. Earlier, the longer routings for these flights through Jordan and Egypt resulted in increased flying hours.

Last month, a senior airline official said there was a big impact due to the airspace restrictions, including the West Asia crisis, and the impact was worse than last year.

"The more airspaces are closed, the more southwards flights have to go... the more southwards flights have to go, the more the fuel bill. So, it (airspace curbs) is worse than what we had last year," the official had said.

(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff and has been published through syndicated feed by PTI.)