india pakistan
[Due to the evolving situation in South Asia and resulting airspace limitations, United has cancelled our flight to New Delhi today. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and make decisions on upcoming flights as more information becomes available.]
Flights of Indian airlines to airports close to the border with Pakistan or having strategic armed assets there are to remain suspended till at least the early hours of May 10. This follows the Indian Air Force (IAF) hitting nine targets in Pakistan in an early morning attack on Wednesday.
IAF’s strikes came in retaliation for a strike by terrorists on May 22 in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, which saw 26 people (all men), including a foreigner from Nepal, being killed. The Indian government blamed Pakistan for the killings, which the Pakistan government denied.
IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline with an over 60 percent market share, said that “due to government notifications on airspace restriction, over 165 flights from 11 airports were cancelled until 05.29 on May 10. The airports include Amritsar, Bikaner, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Gwalior, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Leh, Rajkot, and Srinagar.
Air India, SpiceJet, and Akasa took to X on Wednesday to announce the cancellation of their flights.
Air India also cancelled flights to nine airports till 05.29 am on May 10. These include Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot. “Customers holding valid tickets for travel during this period will be offered a one-time waiver on re-scheduling charges or a full refund for cancellations,” the airline said.
SpiceJet, another low-cost airline, said that “due to the ongoing situation,” airports in northern India, including Dharamshala, Jammu, and Srinagar, were closed until further notice. Departures, arrivals, and consequential flights may be impacted,” the airline said.
The fast-developing situation between India and Pakistan
Currently, it is unclear if the closures of the airports will be till May 10 or are likely to drag on further. The chances are that these airports will be closed for some more time as Pakistan has threatened to retaliate against India Air Force strikes on Wednesday.
Indian Prime Minister cancels upcoming foreign visit
The seriousness of the developing situation between the two nuclear neighbors can be gauged from the fact that the Indian Prime Minister has decided to cancel a forthcoming trip to Europe. Modi was to leave India on May 13 and visit Croatia, Norway, and the Netherlands.
Following the May 22 attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan closed its airspace to all Indian registered aircraft on May 24. This meant that flights from India to the West, including the Gulf, Europe, Canada, and the US, became much longer. However, while the Pakistan airspace closure was only for Indian airlines, several international airlines operating in India, including British Airways, stopped flying over Pakistan airspace on their flights to and from India.
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