New Delhi: United has temporarily suspended its daily Delhi-San Francisco (SFO) and Mumbai-Newark (EWR) flights as it stops flying over Russia in the wake of Ukraine crisis. The US carrier’s other two dailies – Delhi-EWR and Delhi-Chicago – continue as they do not exceed Russian airspace. At this point, Air India – which still overtakes Russia – is the only nonstop between Delhi and SFO and Mumbai and EWR.
A United spokesperson told TOI, “United has temporarily suspended flying into Russian airspace to operate our flights from Mumbai and Delhi, India.”
Travel industry insiders say United’s temporary but indefinite suspension will mean more demand for AI nonstop on affected US routes. In fact AI started the Delhi-SFO direct about six years ago which became so popular among travelers that United also started flights on the same. Vistara is considering launching India-US nonstop, which could be announced in the coming days.
“Crude oil is already at $110 a barrel and the rupee is depreciating against the US dollar. All of these together make US nonstop a very expensive affair. Only if the price is right, do they make sense. Given the long period of uncertainty at this juncture, anyone operating nonstop with a good product may charge a premium,” said an airline official.
The US Federal Aviation Administration recently expanded the area in Eastern Europe and Russia where US commercial airlines cannot operate – throughout Ukraine, Belarus and the western part of Russia.
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