AI’s Israel flight may hit Af-Pak roadblock

Air India’s plan to start a direct flight from Delhi to Tel Aviv has hit a ‘route block’ as Israel authorities have reservations on flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The shortest route proposed by Air India is six and a half hours long. If AI has to avoid Pakistan and Afghanistan, the journey would be nine hours long and also cost ₹20 lakh more.

State-owned AI had planned to start the service on May 12 but it is unlikely to get a go ahead before PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel later this month. “We have aircraft and slot available but route is the issue. The flight of Israeli airlines El Al to Tel Aviv from Mumbai takes eight hours as they avoid entire Gulf and Pakistan and Afghanistan. That route is not economically viable to us. If we take that route, we will have to keep the fare on the higher side,” said an AI official.

“Of the three routes proposed by us, only one avoids Pakistan and Afghanistan. But it flies over Oman, Bahrain and UAE. We are yet to receive approval from Israel, following which we will have to apply for overflying permissions,” the official added.

Sources said Israel’s security agency does not want the plane to fly over these countries as it may have to be diverted to one of them if an in-flight emergency occurs. One of the routes passes via Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Air India’s Airbus A310 planes flew directly to Israel from Mumbai until early 2000 and Delhi until mid-1990s after which flights were withdrawn for commercial reasons. AI plans to fly the route with a Boeing 787 and will have to start booking a month in advance.