Several flights get suspended as India-Pakistan tensions escalate

As the fight between India and Pakistan escalates in the airspace, both countries have suspended flights due to airspace restrictions. Indian carriers have suspended flights from northern cities closer to the international border, including Jammu, Srinagar, Amritsar, Adampur, Shimla, Bhuntar, Gagal, Dehradun, Leh and Chandigarh.

All Indian carriers have asked passengers from these cities to keep a check on their flight statuses as the airspace restrictions are currently temporary. If and when the restrictions will be lifted, the passengers can board their scheduled flights. IndiGo has given options to passengers to either cancel the booking or opt for an alternate option on its website. The closure of multiple airports in India is expected to affect thousands of passengers.

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Pakistan too has stopped flights - international and domestic - from five airports (Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and Islamabad).

As per Flightradar24, the online real-time flight tracking tool, the aircraft movement around the northern region of India and the entire Pakistan seems to have been halted. In an otherwise busy airspace, just three flights - flydubai's FZ571 flight from Dubai to Kathmandu, Air India's AI464 flight from Chandigarh to Delhi and AirAsia India's I51825 flight from Chandigarh to Bengaluru - were seen operating in the northern India at around 1.30 pm. At 2.20 pm, the entire Indian airspace over J&K, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh did not have a single civilian flight. The Pakistan's airspace was largely clear with just one flight -- Ukraine International Airlines flight PS388 -- between Colombo and Kiev operating at that time. The suspension of flights in at least 10 Indian airports, and restricted airspace over Pakistan, is likely to have cascading effects on the flight schedules across the country with airlines rerouting other flights.

Also Read: Indian Air Force shoots down Pakistan F-16 fighter jet: report

Several reports have appeared that Pakistan's fighter jets had crossed LoC (line of control) in the morning, and one of the Pakistan's warplanes F-16 was shot inside the PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir). Pakistan, on the other hand, has claimed to have shot down two Indian warplanes and has captured an Indian pilot. The official confirmations on these claims are awaited. The war-like situation between the two countries is a result of the terror attacks in J&K's Pulwama district two weeks ago that killed about 40 CRPF personnel.

Also Read: India-Pakistan tension: Airports in many northern Indian cities shut down