Operation Sindoor: Passengers rework travel plans with flight disruptions, cancellation

India’s Operation Sindoor to crack down on militant camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) led to the closure of several airports in the northern and western regions bordering the neighbouring nation, with several domestic and international flights cancelled and rescheduled for the day.

The closure of airspace has impacted the travel schedules of thousands of passengers as uncertainty looms over the situation. Some international passengers have cancelled their travel plans out of security concerns.

“I was to travel to Bengaluru from the US on May 8 as my father-in-law is hospitalised and my mother-in-law is all alone. But now with the present situation, I have cancelled the flight for the time being and am watching the situation to plan my travel,” said a worried Prerna Gupta, who has sounded out her friends in Bengaluru in case there is an emergency.

Social media platforms are rife with updates of passengers either stuck at some airports or on flights with no clarity about the next move as the situation remains volatile.

“I was supposed to be flying on American Airlines flight AA293, scheduled for May 6th from Delhi to JF Kennedy. This flight was boarded and ready to take off when the pilot informed that Delhi ATC hadn’t cleared this flight due to Pakistan airspace being closed. We still don’t know the next steps as most flights from Delhi to the US are cancelled, which are flying through Pakistan route and airlines are arranging for hotel accommodation with no update on next flight,” posted a passenger on Facebook group SOS Global Indians, a widely followed group among Indian diaspora in US.  

Airlines have issued an advisory to passengers regarding flight disruptions due to the ongoing situation, while offering a complete one-time refund or rescheduling of flights at no extra cost. Over a dozen airports have been closed until further notice by the authorities. These include Leh, Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jamnagar, Bhatinda, Dharamshala, Bhuj, and Rajkot, among others.

Some international flights that were to land at these airports were diverted to Delhi and other nearby airports, leaving passengers in a lurch. Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa have all issued advisories to passengers and asked them to check their flight status before reaching airports. International airlines have also issued advisories and rescheduled flights. This comes after both countries closed their airspace for Indian and Pakistani flights.

Several global airlines are now avoiding Pakistani airspace, with Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, Swiss International Air Lines, and Emirates having adjusted flight routes to bypass the region, according to the report by Gulf News. Lufthansa said it is “avoiding Pakistani airspace until further notice,” while Air France confirmed it has suspended overflights due to the “recent evolution of tensions between India and Pakistan.”

The military strike comes after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, in which 26 civilians, including one Nepali national, were killed by Pakistan-based militants.