Due to the two neighboring nations’ worst exchange of fire in the last 20 years, several Asian airlines have announced they are rerouting or cancelling flights to and from India and Pakistan.
According to navigational information, the airspace over northern India and southern Pakistan had been completely cleared on Wednesday. With the exception of a few flights, Pakistan’s entire airspace was essentially free of civilian aircraft.
Through air navigation tracking sites, Sanad, Al Jazeera’s verification agency, tracked Indian military aircraft over northern India and a government aircraft in southern Pakistan. This occurred just before the airspace was completely cleared, and it caused several flights to depart Pakistan for Pakistan.
52 flights to and from Pakistan were canceled as of Wednesday morning, according to FlightRadar24, a global flight monitoring service.
When India struck, 57 international flights and flights were taking place in Pakistan’s airspace, according to a Pakistani army spokesman.
Only two international flights have been reported so far at Karachi’s airport following an eight-hour suspension for heightened tensions.
Both countries experienced delays to other domestic flights.
Due to the airport closures caused by the tensions with Pakistan, Air India canceled flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot.
Flights would be suspended until at least May 10 according to India’s flagship airline.
In its northern region, India has also shut down a number of airports. Additionally, flights to 10 cities in northern and northern India close to the Pakistani border were canceled by other airlines like IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air.
Middle Eastern and South Asia operations are already impacted by conflict in the two regions because of the changing airline schedules.
International airlines impacted
After Pakistan’s airspace was closed, Malaysia’s flagship airline, Malaysian Airlines, has since canceled flights to Amritsar, India, and rerouted two long-haul flights.
Meanwhile, Batik Air in Indonesia announced that it had canceled a number of flights to and from Amritsar, India’s and Lahore, Pakistan.
KLM, a Dutch airline, announced that it would not be flying over Pakistan until further notice. Singapore Airlines also announced that it has no longer flys over Pakistani airspace as of May 6.
EVA Air, a Taiwanese airline, said it would adjust its flights to and from Europe to prevent India and Pakistan’s airspace from getting stale.
On Wednesday, Korean Air announced that it had begun switching the routes connecting Seoul Incheon-Dubai and Dubai, choosing a southern route that bypasses Pakistani airspace and passes through Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India.
Vietnam Airlines reported that its flight plans were impacted by tensions between India and Pakistan, while Thai Airways announced that flights to destinations in Europe and South Asia would be rerouted beginning early on Wednesday morning.
Flights from Taiwan’s China Airlines to and from locations like London, Frankfurt, and Rome were canceled, with some having to make technical stops in Bangkok and Prague to refuel and change pilots before reversing flight paths.
Some flights from India to Europe were also observed traveling longer distances.
According to FlightRadar24, Lufthansa’s flights from Delhi to Frankfurt departed from Surat, which is located near the western Indian city of Surat, taking a longer route than Tuesday.
Source: Aljazeera
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