AMID CONTINUING tension on the border, India reversed a shutdown that was put in place on Wednesday morning across nine airports and the airspace north of New Delhi. While civilian flight services to Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Amritsar, Pathankot, Dehradun and Dharamshala resumed in the afternoon, the situation continued to be fluid.
Pakistan, which had initially imposed restrictions on flights originating from and headed to India, fully closed its airspace by evening. As a result, flights that normally fly above Pakistan to go to the West were forced to take a detour.
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International airlines, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad and others, cancelled their flights to Pakistan and Afghanistan till the time that the Pakistani airspace was closed. For Indian carriers, such as Air India’s flight to the US, the need for a refuelling stop till the time the Pakistani airspace remains closed means more flying time for passengers and delays in schedule.
About 800 international flights use the India-Pakistan airspace on a daily basis, according
to industry estimates. Most of them have been affected due to the ongoing tension, industry executives said.
Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted: “Reviewed the current airspace restrictions with Member-ANS, AAI (Air Navigation Services, Airports Authority of India) in view of the current cross border situation. I assure you that we are working out modalities so that the air passengers are least inconvenienced. All stakeholders were kept informed.”
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Air India, in a statement issued later in the day, said: “In view of the prevailing situation regarding closure of air space, we would like to inform our esteemed passengers that astute route-planning for our long and medium haul flights have been drawn up by our operations in preparedness of any exigency, including closure of airspace, so that flights operate with minimal delay according top priority to safety and security.
Inbound and Outbound flights from USA and Europe for Delhi are being re-routed through Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Flights landing into India from USA and Europe are being diverted to Dubai and Sharjah due technical requirements and will land with a delay. Air India would like to inform that no flights are cancelled and there will be only an increase in the flying time,” he added.
Flights going to Afghanistan were also affected. “Our flight to/from Kabul has been cancelled till tomorrow,” SpiceJet said in a tweet. International airlines, such as Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways, announced rerouting of some of their flights.
In view of the closure of Pakistani airspace, flights from Singapore to London and Frankfurt will stop in Mumbai for refuelling, Singapore Airlines said in a statement. “All other flights that overfly affected airspace will be rerouted, but are due to operate as scheduled at this point,” it said.
India had shut down nine airports in the morning to civilian air traffic amid escalating tension after Pakistani jets violated Indian airspace. In Delhi airport, there have been a total of 47 cancellations, 25 departures and 22 arrivals. Additionally, four flights destined for other airports that were diverted to Delhi — two domestic and two international.
