India has opened negotiations with China to secure access to airspace around Hotan, in a bid to limit the operational damage caused by Pakistan's closure of its airspace to Indian traffic, according to the country's civil aviation minister.

The confirmation from the minister, reported by The Statesman, marks the most concrete signal yet of how New Delhi intends to manage the network consequences of the Pakistani restriction. Hotan, an airfield in China's western Xinjiang region, sits on routing options that could allow Indian carriers to bypass Pakistani airspace on flights heading west and north toward Europe and the Gulf — markets that account for a substantial share of Indian long-haul capacity.

Pakistan's closure of its airspace has forced Indian operators onto longer tracks, typically routing south over the Arabian Sea and around the Persian Gulf or, on some headings, via central Asian corridors. The detours add flight time, fuel burn and crew costs to sectors that were already among the most competitive in the Indian network. The ministry has not yet quantified the aggregate cost of the disruption, but the decision to negotiate directly with Beijing indicates the government views the workaround as a capacity and economics problem rather than a temporary inconvenience.

The talks center on use of airspace associated with Hotan. Any agreement would require Chinese civil aviation and military authorities to open transit routings through a sensitive border region — a step that would carry significant diplomatic weight given the state of India-China relations. The minister's public acknowledgment of the negotiations suggests both sides have progressed at least to technical discussions of feasible corridors.

For Indian carriers, the stakes are concrete. Every additional hour of block time on westbound sectors translates directly into higher fuel consumption, tighter aircraft utilization and, on thinner routes, questions over viability. Routing relief through Chinese airspace near Hotan would shorten tracks to destinations across Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Europe that currently require wide detours.

What remains unclear from the minister's statement is the timeline for any arrangement, the specific carriers or flight categories that would gain access, and whether China has signaled willingness to grant the overflight rights. Until an agreement is finalized and routings are published, Indian operators will continue to absorb the cost of the closure through longer flight plans.

The next indication of progress is likely to come when either government confirms a formal airspace agreement or Indian carriers begin filing flight plans through the Hotan region on affected sectors.