Operation Sindoor: 90 flights, including 11 international, cancelled at Delhi airport
New Delhi: Air travel severely disrupted at Several airports across India, including the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Following India’s missile strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
As of 1400 IST, May 8, 90 flights have been cancelled at the Delhi airport, according to a source, including 79 domestic flights and 11 international flights. As many as 150 departing flights and 90 arriving flights were delayed, according to live flight tracking website Flightradar24.
The 90 flights cancelled included 46 domestic flights meant to depart from IGI Airport and 33 domestic flights that were scheduled to arrive at IGI Airport. Similarly, of the 11 international flights that were disrupted, five were international departures from IGI Airport and six were arriving flights.
“Kindly note, due to changing airspace conditions, some flights have been impacted at Delhi Airport. For updated flight information, passengers are advised to contact their respective airlines or may visit our official website,” Delhi Airport said in a post on X early May 8.
Hundreds of flights of domestic airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, Spicejet, Akasa Air, and Air India Express, have been cancelled and rescheduled.
According to estimates by airlines, around 450 domestic flights were cancelled as a precautionary measure on May 8, with the government shutting down more than 20 airports across north-west India, including Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Amritsar, and Shimla.
The affected Indian airports include Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Halwara, Pathankot, Bhuntar, Shimla, Gaggal, Dharamsala, Kishangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Mundra, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Kandla, Keshod, Bhuj, Gwalior and Hindon. Airports primarily used for military charters have also been included in the shutdown.
Air travel in the country has been disrupted after 27 airports across northern, western, and central India have shut down commercial flights until 0529 IST on Saturday, May 10. The operations are expected to remain constrained as a ‘Notice to Airmen’ (NOTAM) is applicable until May 10.
In Gujarat, four airports close to the Indo-Pakistan border – Bhuj, Kandla, Jamnagar, and Rajkot — have been temporarily shut down for civilian aircraft operations.
Air India cancelled all flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Chandigarh, and Rajkot until May 10, while IndiGo cancelled over 165 flights from multiple airports.
Besides, foreign airlines were impacted with US carriers American and United cancelling their Tuesday departures to Delhi. Other airlines, such as Finnair and KLM, have had to divert or take longer routes, resulting in increased flight times.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 on Wednesday showed the skies over Pakistan and India’s western corridor, from Kashmir to Gujarat, almost entirely empty of civilian aircraft.
IndiGo, India’s largest airline, in a statement on May 7, said its flights to and from Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Dharamshala are impacted.
“Due to government notification on airspace restrictions, over 165 IndiGo flights from multiple airports (Amritsar, Bikaner, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Gwalior, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Leh, Rajkot, and Srinagar) are cancelled until 0529 hrs. IST of 10 May, 2025,” IndiGo said.
Air India said that two international flights to Kashmir are diverted to Delhi.
“In view of the prevailing situation, Air India has cancelled all its flights to and from the following stations – Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot – till 12 noon on 7 May, pending further updates from authorities. Two international flights en route to Amritsar are being diverted to Delhi. We regret the inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen disruption,” Air India said.