India pursues Xinjiang air route with China to mitigate Pakistan airspace ban: Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu

India is exploring an alternative air route over China’s Xinjiang to reduce the impact of the continued closure of Pakistani airspace, civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Tuesday.

Following the closure of Pakistani airspace after the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, Indian airlines operating flights to Europe and North America from northern and western India have been forced to detour over the Arabian Sea towards Muscat. The detour has added between 45 minutes and two hours of extra flight time, driving up operational costs and fuel burn across several sectors.

Naidu said the proposed corridor over Hotan in southwestern Xinjiang would offer a significantly shorter route.

“We are looking at other alternatives. Discussion on the Hotan route is going on between the two countries. Our external affairs ministry (MEA) is engaging with their country..let us see how it goes, but we are trying alternatives..” Naidu told reporters on Tuesday.

If the discussions pan out, Indian airlines flying from Delhi and Mumbai would head towards Leh, enter Chinese airspace near Hotan, turn toward Kyrgyzstan, and then connect to existing routes heading to Europe, the UK, and North America.

“All Indian carriers from the north and north west are following the L639 route to avoid the Pakistan airspace…. which increases their flying time by 2 hours,” a person familiar with the matter said.

“The route may lead to significant savings for destinations like Georgia, Baku, Central Asia, and northern Europe,” a second person said.

The detour has proven particularly costly for flag carrier Air India, which relies heavily on western long-haul routes out of its Delhi and Mumbai hub.

Campbell Wilson, former Air India CEO, in 2025, estimated that the airline lost ₹4,000 crore due to the Pakistan airspace closure.

Naidu however, did not indicate a timeline for the opening of the route or suggest that an agreement had been reached with China.

To be sure, any new air corridor would require agreement between the countries and coordination on air traffic management and other operational issues.