27 airports shut; over 400 flights cancelled today

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Twenty-seven airports in north, west and central India have been closed for commercial flights, for now till 5.29am Saturday (May 10), report Saurabh Sinha & Manju V. Indian carriers cancelled a total of 430 flights for Thursday, which was 3% of the country's total scheduled flights, while Pakistan carriers cancelled 147 flights, 17% of its total scheduled flights.Airspace over Pakistan and the western shoulder of India between Kashmir and Gujarat was free of civilian air traffic as airlines shunned the sensitive zone, showed Flightradar24, which also shared the flight cancellation data. Most foreign carriers stopped using Pakistani airspace, re-routing flights over Mumbai and Ahmedabad.Also read: Before & after images reveal damage to terror camps in Pakistan after Operation SindoorAirports that have been closed are 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, said industry sources. Those that only handle military charters are also closed. Wednesday saw about 250 flights getting cancelled. Air India said two of its international flights en route to Amritsar were diverted to Delhi. American Air cancelled its Delhi-New York flight Wednesday.