If you can order 500 Boeing and Airbus jetliners, it is not a huge amount
It will be a huge amount when these 500 Boeing and Airbus jetliners keep using the expensive route.
For the international, long-haul component of these orders (the wide-body Boeing 777X, 787 Dreamliners, and Airbus A350s), avoiding Pakistan is incredibly expensive.
Industry analysts note: The "Long Way Round": Westbound flights from Delhi or Mumbai to Europe and North America must fly south over the Arabian Sea before turning west.
Direct Cost Impact: Air India initially projected that the airspace ban alone adds an extra operational hit of roughly $600 million (approx. ₹5,000 crore) per year due to rerouting.
Loss of the "Non-Stop" Advantage
The real financial danger to the new wide-body fleet isn't just the extra fuel; it’s the erosion of their primary selling point.
Technical Halts: Because aircraft must fly longer distances against headwinds, flights to North America that were designed to be non-stop are forced to take "technical stops" in places like Vienna or Tbilisi to refuel.
The Revenue Hit: Technical stops require paying double the airport landing and take-off cycles, double the handling fees, and extra crew accommodation costs. More importantly, it destroys the premium "non-stop flight" edge that allows Air India to charge higher ticket prices over Gulf competitors.
Crew and Maintenance Bleed
Aircraft maintenance and pilot schedules are calculated by flight hours and cycles (one take-off and landing).
Fewer Flights, More Wear: Because a single flight takes hours longer, airlines get lower utilization out of each multi-million dollar jet.
Pilot Meltdowns: The extra flight time pushes pilots past their strict Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). To keep these routes active, airlines must hire and roster significantly more flight crews, spiking employee expenditures.
