Tuesday, April 02, 2019

Air India halves luggage allowance on Mumbai-NY route as Pakistan airspace closure continues

New Delhi: The luggage allowance for Air India’s Mumbai-New York economy passengers has been halved to leave room for extra fuel needed to complete the flight, which has been following a longer route since Pakistan shut down its airspace for commercial flights on 27 February.

Economy passengers flying from Mumbai to New York, or vice versa, aboard Air India will now only be able to carry one piece of luggage weighing 23 kg, down from the earlier allowance of two pieces weighing 23 kg each. This rule, which came into effect Monday, is only applicable to the Mumbai-New York route.

“Due to the ongoing closure of Pakistan airspace, the Mumbai-New York path was obstructed and we needed to carry more fuel… It was becoming difficult for the carrier to deal with the existing payload,” Air India spokesperson Praveen Bhatnagar told ThePrint. “Thus, we opted for the one-piece concept.”

Pakistan had closed its airspace to commercial airlines on 27 February, the day an incursion by its air force triggered a dogfight with the Indian Air Force (IAF) over the Line of Control. A day before, the IAF had flown into Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to target terror camps of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had claimed responsibility for the 14 February Pulwama suicide attack.
02/04/19 Ifrah Mufti/The Print
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