Around 350 international flights were cancelled on Sunday across the country as global aviation faced operational disruptions because of the West Asia crisis.
According to flightradar24, a flight-tracking platform, more than 3,400 flights have been cancelled on Sunday across seven airports in West Asia, including Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Kuwait, as many airspaces remain closed for security reasons.
“In view of airspace restrictions arising from geopolitical developments in West Asia, a total of 350 flights operated by Indian domestic carriers have been cancelled on Sunday,” the civil aviation ministry said.
The ministry posted on X that a total of 410 Indian flights had been cancelled on Saturday after many West Asian countries shut down their airspace when tensions escalated between Iran and Israel.
An advisory from aviation regulator DGCA to temporarily avoid the airspace of 11 countries has prompted Indian domestic carriers Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air and SpiceJet to temporarily suspend all flights to West Asian countries. As a result, many passengers were stranded in multiple cities, and their travel plans were disrupted.
Stuck in Karachi
Eight Indians, including three from Kerala, are stranded at Karachi airport in Pakistan following a flight diversion due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Norka Roots said on Sunday. Norka Roots is the state government agency responsible for the affairs of Non-Resident Keralites.
According to officials, the stranded persons from Kerala are Krishnadas, his wife, Dr Reshmi Menon, and their three-year-old daughter, who are from Palakkad.
Norka Roots officials said the family was travelling from Baku in Azerbaijan to Kuwait via Sharjah on an Air Arabia flight. The other stranded Indians were also on the same flight.
