US & Canadian Flights By This Long-Haul Airline Are Stopping In Europe To Refuel

The mass shooting in Kashmir last week had many consequences. Aviation-wise, Pakistan temporarily prohibited Indian airlines from overflying its country. While the ban is due to end on May 23, airlines must detour, adding time to the affected journeys, more fuel burn, higher operating costs, higher emissions, more complications, etc. Foreign airlines are not banned from overflying Pakistan, so they gain a brief competitive advantage from quicker and less expensive trips.
Due to their long stage lengths, many Air India routes to the US and Canada stop in Copenhagen or Vienna to refuel and probably change crew. Air India already serves the two Star Alliance hubs. They have slot availability to handle the additional flights and must have competitive landing fees, etc. Some of the world’s longest nonstop passenger flights are between India and the US, and they are temporarily impacted.
These Air India US Flights Have Thus Far Stopped In Europe
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Air India has 10 US/Canada routes with up to 11 daily departures each way. The following table summarizes them all and whether they have been diverted. Of course, ‘diversion’ suggests something unplanned, but Air India would have planned for the brief stopover before each flight departed. If the airspace ban indeed ends on May 23, flights will return to being nonstop.
It is a confusing mess. Not all flights stop. It depends, in part, on the direction and on how heavy the flights are. To make it even less clear, some departures on a particular route have stopped in Europe, while others on the same airport pair haven’t. For example, while most San Francisco flights back to Delhi have diverted, AI184 hasn’t (yet). On April 26, for example, the nonstop service back to India took a whopping 18h 13m, over three hours longer than usual.
Air India frequency/equipment Route Have flights been diverted? (According to Flightradar24 until April 28 only*) Double daily 777-300ER/777-200LR Delhi to Toronto Yes. Via Copenhagen to Toronto on April 25 and via Vienna daily thereafter. Not all flights from Canada have diverted, but many have 10 weekly 777-200LR Delhi to San Francisco Yes, but only from San Francisco. Via Copenhagen on April 25 and via Vienna daily thereafter Eight weekly A350-900 Delhi to New York JFK Yes, but only to New York. Via Vienna to JFK on April 25, and via Copenhagen daily thereafter Daily 777-300ER Delhi to Chicago O’Hare Yes. Via Copenhagen to Chicago on April 25 and via Vienna every other day. From Chicago, via Vienna on April 27 and 28, and will presumably continue Daily 777-300ER Delhi to Vancouver Yes, but only from Vancouver. Via Copenhagen on April 25 and via Vienna daily thereafter Daily 777-300ER Mumbai to New York JFK Yes, but only to New York. Via Copenhagen on April 25 and via Vienna daily thereafter Four weekly A350-900 Delhi to Newark Yes, but only to Newark. Via Copenhagen on April 27 and 28, which will presumably continue Five weekly 787-9 Delhi to Washington Dulles Yes, stopped in Vienna en route to Dulles daily from April 25. Stopped in the Austrian capital from Dulles on April 27 and 28, which will presumably continue Four weekly 777-200LR Mumbai to San Francisco Yes, but only from San Francisco. Via Copenhagen on April 24 and via Vienna thereafter Three weekly 777-300ER Mumbai to Newark Yes, but only to Newark. Via Copenhagen on April 25 and via Vienna thereafter Three weekly 777-200LR San Francisco to Bengaluru Yes, but only from San Francisco. Thus far, it flew via Vienna on April 26, which will presumably continue * This reflects the situation in the days leading up to, and including, April 28. It simply provides a snapshot of what has happened. The dates mentioned above relate to when flights landed in Europe
Vienna Is Temporarily Air India’s Busiest European Airport
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Air India usually serves the Austrian capital four weekly from Delhi on the 787-8. However, things are radically different now. Let’s consider April 27 as an example. According to Flightradar24, there were 11 arrivals and 11 departures on that Sunday, broken down as follows. Funnily enough, Air India’s standalone Vienna operation did not operate on this date.
On April 27, London Heathrow was to be Air India’s busiest European airport, as it ordinarily is. It had six arrivals and six departures. While only temporary and obviously in extraordinary circumstances, its short-term Vienna operation was nearly twice as big as Heathrow’s. More than this, Air India had more long-haul departures from Vienna than Austrian Airlines (10).
Arrival time in Vienna Arriving flight details Departure time from Vienna Departing flight details 04:49 From Washington Dulles (787-8) 06:30 To Delhi (787-8) 05:48 From Vancouver (777-300ER) 07:17 To Delhi (777-300ER) 06:26 From San Francisco (777-200LR) 07:55 To Delhi (777-200LR) 07:04 From Delhi (787-8) 08:11 To New York JFK (777-300ER) 07:55 From Mumbai (777-300ER) 08:15 To Newark (777-300ER) 07:55 From Mumbai (777-300ER) 08:40 To Washington Dulles (787-8) 08:04 From Delhi (777-300ER) 09:55 To Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER) 08:06 From Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER) 09:57 To Delhi (777-300ER) 08:57 From Delhi (777-300ER) 10:20 To Toronto (777-300ER) 17:03 From San Francisco (777-200LR) 18:21 To Mumbai (777-200LR) 21:15 From Delhi (777-300ER) 23:24 To Toronto (777-300ER)
Air Canada Stopped in Frankfurt From India Back To Canada
Between mid-December 2024 and late February 2025, Air Canada operated between Toronto and Mumbai. While flights previously stopped at Heathrow on a fifth freedom basis, the carrier decided to fly nonstop aboard the 300-seat 777-200LR. While flights did indeed operate nonstop to India, they had to stop in Frankfurt to refuel and change crew back to Canada. This was due to avoiding Russian airspace.
The thrice-weekly winter seasonal service is due to resume from Toronto on October 26, when northern carriers switch to winter schedules based on IATA slot seasons. Currently, Air Canada’s schedule back to North America shows a nonstop operation, with a block time of 17h 25m (still not making the top 10 longest nonstop routes list). But unless the Russian situation is resolved, flights will probably stop in Germany again.