Twenty-seven airports in north, west and central India have been closed for commercial flights, for now till 5.29am Saturday (May 10), report Saurabh Sinha & Manju V.
Indian carriers cancelled a total of 430 flights for Thursday, which was 3% of the country’s total scheduled flights, while Pakistan carriers cancelled 147 flights, 17% of its total scheduled flights. Airspace over Pakistan and the western shoulder of India between Kashmir and Gujarat was free of civilian air traffic as airlines shunned the sensitive zone, showed Flightradar24, which also shared the flight cancellation data. Most foreign carriers stopped using Pakistani airspace, re-routing flights over Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Airports that have been closed are Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Halwara, Pathankot, Bhuntar, Shimla, Gaggal, Dharamsala, Kishangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Mundra, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Kandla, Keshod, Bhuj, Gwalior and Hindon, said industry sources. Those that only handle military charters are also closed.