Asian airlines re-route, cancel flights due to India-Pakistan tensions
Several Asian airlines announced on Wednesday that they were rerouting or cancelling flights to and from Europe due to escalating military tensions between India and Pakistan.
More than two dozen international flights were diverted to avoid Pakistan airspace, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
By Wednesday morning local time, airlines had cancelled 52 flights to or from Pakistan, according to FlightRadar24.
There were 57 international flights operating in Pakistan's airspace when India struck, according a Pakistan army spokesperson.
Domestic flights in both countries were also disrupted. India shut several airports and as a result, flights belonging to Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air were cancelled. IndiGo shares were down 1.8%.
Images from the flight tracking website showed that the northwestern airspace of India and Pakistan's entire airspace were nearly free of civilian aircraft, barring a few flights.
The changing airline schedules are set to further complicate operations in the Middle East and South Asia regions for carriers, who are already grappling with a fallout from conflicts in the two regions.
Taiwan's EVA Air said that it will adjust its flights to and from Europe to avoid airspace affected by the fighting between India and Pakistan for safety reasons. Shares were down about 1.7%. One flight from Vienna will be diverted back to that city, while a flight from Taipei to Milan will be diverted to Vienna for refuelling before continuing on to its destination, the airline said in a statement to Reuters.
Korean Air said it had begun rerouting its Seoul Incheon–Dubai flights on Wednesday, opting for a southern route that passes over Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India, instead of the previous path through Pakistani airspace.
Thai Airways said that flights to destinations in Europe and South Asia would be rerouted starting early on Wednesday morning, while Vietnam Airlines said tensions between India and Pakistan had affected its flight plans.
Taiwan's China Airlines said that flights to and from destinations including London, Frankfurt and Rome had been disrupted, with some cancelled and others having to make technical stops in Bangkok and Prague to refuel and change crews, before taking longer flight paths. Its shares were down more than 2%.
Some flights from India to Europe were also seen taking longer routes. Lufthansa flight LH761 from Delhi to Frankfurt turned right towards the Arabian Sea near the western Indian city of Surat, taking a longer path compared to Tuesday, according to FlightRadar24.
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