Air India cancelled its Delhi-Kabul-Delhi flight that was scheduled to be operated on Monday and carriers running flight services between India and the western countries avoided the Afghan airspace after it was declared ''uncontrolled'' by the Kabul airport authorities, senior officials said.
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New Delhi:
The Air India flight was the only commercial service scheduled to be operated between India and Afghanistan on Monday. The national carrier is the only airline that has been operating flights between the two countries.
Afghanistan stares at an uncertain future as President Ashraf Ghani left the country just before Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban on Sunday.
According to a NOTAM (notice to airmen) issued by the Kabul airport authorities on Monday, the Afghan airspace has been released to the military and any aircraft transit through it ''will be uncontrolled''.
In another NOTAM, it was stated that the civilian side of the Kabul airport has been shut down until further notice.
Therefore, all carriers operating flights between India and the western countries such as Air India, United Airlines and Terra Avia had to reroute their flights on Monday so as to avoid the Afghan airspace.
Two Air India flights -- one from San Francisco to Delhi and another from Chicago to Delhi -- were diverted to Sharjah to avoid the Afghan airspace, senior officials stated. Both the planes were refuelled at the Sharjah airport before they departed for Delhi.
Terra Avia's flight from Azerbaijan's Baku to Delhi entered the Afghan airspace in the morning but quickly took a U-turn and decided to avoid it by flying around it.
The New York-Mumbai flight of United Airlines had to take a different and longer route than usual to avoid the Afghan airspace.
According to a spokesperson of Vistara, which operates four weekly flights on the Delhi-London route, the airline has stopped using the Afghan airspace and is taking an alternate route for its flights to and from London's Heathrow airport.
''We are closely working with the relevant authorities to monitor and assess the situation and taking necessary steps to ensure the safety of our passengers, staff and aircraft,'' the spokesperson of the private carrier said.
Vistara is not going to reduce the number of its Delhi-London flights.
British Airways, which operates flights between India and the UK, announced on Sunday that it will avoid the Afghan airspace.
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