Global airlines have been forced to divert or cancel several flights after Pakistan shut down its airspace until at least this morning, blocking one of the key air routes between the Asia-Pacific region and Europe following a military clash with India.
Pakistan airspace is the primary route for Southeast Asia and Europe, with about 220 services connecting the regions daily, according to the International Air Transport Association, and diversions do not come cheap.
In Taipei, China Airlines (中華航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday said that that they were not expecting to cancel any of their flights to Europe, but there could be delays of up to several hours.
Photo: Reuters
After scrapping all 10 flights from Europe to Bangkok as well as those to Pakistan that were due to depart late on Wednesday and early yesterday, Thai Airways said that it had resumed normal operations after China granted permission to use its airspace for nearly a dozen flights to Europe scheduled to leave yesterday afternoon and this morning.
About 5,000 passengers were stuck at Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Wednesday after flights, mostly on Thai Airways, were delayed or canceled, said Colonel Umnart Chomshai, superintendent of tourism police at the airport.
Another airport official said a help center had been set up for stranded travelers.
Singapore Airlines’ Europe-bound flights yesterday were to take off as planned, but were being rerouted to avoid the affected airspace, without any refueling stops, the carrier said in an e-mail.
A flight using an Airbus SE A350 — such as Singapore Airlines’ service to Amsterdam — could incur extra fuel costs of about US$90,000 for a delay of approximately 20 minutes, said K. Ajith, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian Pte in Singapore.
The two neighbors are engaged in the most serious military confrontation in decades, after India on Tuesday said it had killed hundreds of militants in a camp inside Pakistan.
Pakistan retaliated by shooting down an Indian MiG-21 aircraft and capturing its pilot, while India said it downed a Pakistani jet.
Pakistan closed its airspace, while airports in northern India were shut for hours before restrictions were lifted.
All flights between Beijing and Pakistan were canceled on Wednesday and yesterday, and it was unclear whether flights scheduled for today would also be canceled, China’s aviation regulator said.
Qantas Airways had to change the flight path for its London-Singapore service yesterday, adding an extra 20 minutes to the journey.
Malaysia Airlines said it was not currently flying over the affected airspace, and was avoiding Pakistan and northern India for European flights until further notice.
Emirates and Qatar Airways suspended flights to Pakistan and others, such as British Airways, were forced to reroute flights.
Sri Lankan Airlines yesterday canceled flights to the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore.
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