India's aviation extremes: Mapping the longest and shortest flights this summer

The Northern Summer schedule—the longer of the two annual airline scheduling seasons—has launched on a muted note this year. Domestically, the regulator has yet to declare approved flight schedules, and day-to-day operations have not seen any growth. Internationally, persistent airspace closures continue to disrupt operations. While domestic records for the shortest and longest flights remain largely unchanged, the international sector is witnessing a sea change.

Shortest and longest domestic routes

Alliance Air, India’s sole government-owned carrier, holds the title for the shortest flight in the country. Interestingly, the carrier operates two sectors tied for this distinction: Diu-Keshod and Imphal-Silchar. Both routes span just 95 km. Despite the identical distance, the Diu-Keshod leg has a scheduled block time of 35 minutes, while Imphal-Silchar takes 55 minutes. Both are serviced by ATR 72-600 aircraft.

At the other end of the spectrum, the longest domestic flight is Air India’s daily service from Delhi to Port Blair. This 2,481 km route involves a flight time of three hours and forty minutes. Air India utilises a three-class A320neo on this sector, configured with 164 seats.

Jammu-Srinagar: The high-traffic sprint

The 145 km hop between Jammu and Srinagar is the shortest route for IndiGo, Air India Express and SpiceJet. This vital link connects the summer and winter capitals of Jammu and Kashmir, serving both locals and tourists. It is also a primary route classified as Category II A under the Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG).

Other carrier-specific minimums include Air India’s Delhi-Dehradun (214 km), Akasa Air’s Guwahati-Agartala (248 km) and IndiGo (ATR fleet)’s Bengaluru-Salem (179 km).

Longest routes for major carriers

The Bengaluru-Srinagar route, spanning 2,320 km, serves as the longest sector for both IndiGo and Air India Express. For Akasa Air, the longest route is Mumbai-Guwahati (2,074 km), while SpiceJet’s longest is Mumbai-Bagdogra (1,794 km).

Notably, the longest routes for all five major carriers fall under Category II of RDG. These guidelines mandate that airlines deploy a specific percentage of their capacity on top 20 metro routes to underserved regions, including the Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and the Lakshadweep and Andaman islands.

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IndiGo’s longest flight on the turboprop ATR aircraft is Kolkata-Raipur (711 km). Topping the list for all turboprop operations in India, SpiceJet’s twice-weekly DHC-8 service from Delhi to Shillong covers a substantial 1,508 km.

How are the smaller airlines doing?

While Alliance Air handles the shortest hop, it operates a substantial 887 km route from Bilaspur to Delhi on its ATR fleet; this is also the longest ATR route in the country. Meanwhile, Fly91, which recently expanded its fleet, lists Goa-Jalgaon (608 km) as its longest service.

Star Air, operating an all-Embraer fleet, flies a 1,529 km route from Ahmedabad to Purnea—the longest for any regional carrier. Its shortest routes are a tie between Hyderabad-Nanded and Bengaluru-Vidyanagar, both at 246 km.

A redrawn international map

Long-haul international routes from India were once the exclusive stronghold of Air India, but the closure of Pakistani airspace has altered the landscape.

Druk Air’s Bagdogra-Paro service is the shortest international flight from India. IndiGo’s Trichy-Jaffna route is the shortest operated by an Indian carrier.

United Airlines’ Delhi-Newark flight holds the top spot for the longest international flight from India, followed closely by American Airlines’ Delhi-New York service.

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While Western carriers are barred from Russian airspace, their access to Pakistani airspace allows them to maintain non-stop service to the US. In contrast, Air India currently requires a technical stop in Rome for most of its North American flights. Consequently, Air India’s Delhi-Sydney service now ranks as one of the longest flights by an Indian carrier operated without a technical halt in either direction.