Around 600 flights of Indian airlines diverted due to Pak airspace closure since April 24

NEW DELHI : Pakistan’s April 24 closure of its airspace to Indian flights has hit some 600 west-bound international flights of mostly Air India and IndiGo in the first five days since the airspace closure. The forced diversions that have resulted has led to around 120 flights being forced to make an extra stop to refuel when flying to Europe, North America and other destinations that involve overflying Pakistan, data shared by online travel agents and flight tracking platforms showed.

Islamabad banned flights operated by Indian carriers from using its airspace from April 24. This was in the wake of measures taken by India in response to the terrorist attack on tourists at Pahalgam on April 22 that left at least 26 dead and wounded many others.

Indian carriers are being forced to reroute international flights over Mumbai and Ahmedabad, turning over the Arabian Sea to head to Muscat, and then flying to their destination.

“All IndiGo, Akasa Air, Air India and Air India Express international flights from Delhi, Amritsar, Jaipur, Lucknow and Srinagar to countries in the Middle East including Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, countries in Eastern Europe including Turkey, Greece, Georgia, and to the US and Canada have been rerouted since April 24,” a senior executive from an online travel platform told.

Source : Moneycontrol