LONDON: Thousands of air travellers worldwide were left stranded on Thursday after Pakistan closed its airspace in response to escalating tensions with India.
Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it would keep airspace shut until 11.59 pm local time, disrupting major routes between Europe and South East Asia.
Thai Airways has cancelled nearly 30 flights, affecting 5,000 passengers.
“All THAI flights from Bangkok to Europe departing near midnight of 27 FEB through early 28 FEB and from Europe to Bangkok departing on 27 FEB have been cancelled due to Pakistan airspace closure,” the airline wrote on its Twitter page.
The decision affected its services to London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo, but the airline said at around 0530 GMT that it was resuming normal operations to Europe.
Singapore Airlines’ was also forced to direct flights to Europe to re-fuel, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled.
The crisis between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India has raised fears of an all-out war. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
