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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has exempted Air India from complying with the rules on pilot rest and duty timings for ultra-long-haul flights, in order to manage the disruption caused by Pakistan’s airspace closure, an internal note of Air India reviewed by Moneycontrol said.

As part of the exemption, granted by the DGCA for two weeks beginning from April 30, pilots operating Air India's flights to the United States and Canada will be allowed to fly for an additional two hours.

The Indian aviation regulator has increased the maximum pilot flight duty period for a flight of up to 12 hours to 16 hours compared with the previous 14 hours. Similarly, for a flight longer than 14 hours, the duty period has been raised to 24 hours from the earlier 22 hours, according to the memo sent to pilots and seen by Moneycontrol.

The exemption been put in place while a permanent solution is being worked out.

: Around 600 flights of Indian airlines diverted due to Pak airspace closure since April 24

Due to the airspace closure by Pakistan, flights from North India heading to Europe and North America are now required to fly South via Ahmedabad and then turn right over Arabian Sea to head to Muscat, enroute the destinations. This flightpath is forcing Air India to halt in Vienna or Copenhagen for its US flights, leading to increased fuel and engineering expenses.

The development comes as Indian carriers, especially Air India, face longer routes and increased operational costs due to rerouting around Pakistan’s closed airspace, a measure enforced following last week’s Pahalgam terror attack that heightened tensions with Pakistan.

Subsequently, Islamabad banned flights operated by Indian carriers from using its airspace from April 24, in response to diplomatic measures by India.

Air India's pilots have also pointed out that additional landings and take-offs are causing increased fatigue as pilots are unable to fully rest for the mandatory three hours in-flight rest.

In-flight, or controlled rest refers to a brief, supervised sleep period taken by pilots on the flight deck, typically during low-workload phases of flight while the other set of crew maintains full control of the aircraft.

The DGCA is holding conversations with airlines to ensure pilots and cabin crew are not overburdened, it is learnt.

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