Mumbai: The increased tensions between India and Pakistan severely impacted the Indian aviation sector as multiple airports in the northern and western regions of India were temporarily shut on Wednesday. More than 400 flights were cancelled across the country as a few routes are expected to be shut till May 10.
After India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ against terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir in the early hours of Wednesday, the aviation sector has seen its immediate effects. The airstrikes caused a haunting silence in Pakistan’s airspace as the majority of airlines avoided flying over the country.
On the other hand, various Indian airports were shut temporarily on Wednesday after the Indian government issued a notification on airspace restrictions. These airports included Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Amritsar, Pathankot, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Shimla, Dharamshala, Jamnagar, Bhuj, Rajkot, Bikaner, Hindon, Nanded, Adampur and Kishangarh.
Assessing the impact due to Pakistan’s potential retaliation, the Indian aviation authorities also directed closure of multiple airports until 5.29am on May10, which has again affected hundreds of airlines. The major brunt was suffered by IndiGo, the largest Indian airline according to market share, which has cancelled more than 165 flights from multiple airports. This includes Amritsar, Bikaner, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Gwalior, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Leh, Rajkot and Srinagar.
Similarly, Air India also announced the cancellations of flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot until 05.29am on May 10. SpiceJet also cancelled its flights to and from Leh, Srinagar, Jammu, Dharamshala, Kandla and Amritsar.
All the airlines have announced full refunds to customers for the flights cancelled due to government restrictions and have also allowed the travellers to reschedule their journey at no extra cost.
According to live aircraft tracker Flightradar24, flight cancellations logged in India reached 430, until 4pm on Wednesday, which was only 3% of the scheduled flights. On the other hand, Pakistan recorded cancellation of 147 flights, which amounted to 17% of the scheduled flights.
The sudden escalation of tensions has caused worries to thousands of travellers who were to be travelling on the cancelled routes. The customer support centres of the airlines are alos flooding with distress calls from customers who have booked their flights on the cancelled routes. This also includes flights connecting Mumbai Airport with the airports shut till May 10. Several tourists from Mumbai are also stuck at these closed airports.
Mumbai-based Umesh Bhoir went to Manali with his wife and 10-year-old son but are now stuck as their return flight was from Chandigarh. “Since the airline told me that I was eligible for a free refund, I cancelled our tickets and booked new tickets from Delhi. However, we are in Kasol now and there are no transportation options available to travel to Delhi. We will now possibly take a train from Ambala to Mumbai.”
Travellers also took to social media to express their worries and ask about their flight’s status to the airlines. Pruthvi Pokar, an X user wrote to Air India saying, “My flight from Bhuj to Mumbai on 9th May was cancelled by your airline. Confirm immediately whether the 10th May flight at 8:55 AM is operating. I would appreciate help with rescheduling.”
