430 Flights Cancelled as 27 Airports Remain Closed Until May 10

Following the successful operation of Operation Sindoor by India, almost 430 local flights were grounded on Thursday, which account for nearly three percent of India's total scheduled air traffic, as 27 airports remain out of service till May 10.

Data by flight tracking service Flightradar24 indicated a sharp dearth of commercial flights over India and Pakistan's western air corridor.

"Pakistani airspace and the western shoulder of India between Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat saw no civilian air traffic as airlines shunned the sensitive area," the portal added, citing real-time flight data and cancellations.

The shutdown has been impacting big airports such as 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.

Over 300 flights were cancelled yesterday, with operations suspended across 21 airports in northern and western regions of the country.

Air India, in an X statement, conceded an increase in customer call volume.

Although all our representatives are working diligently to serve customers, sometimes it might take longer than anticipated to connect. Rest assured, we are here to help you. For those customers whose flights are affected by the ongoing disruptions, Air India is providing full cancellation refund and one-time waiver on reschedule fee. This is applicable for tickets purchased on the affected flights up to 10th May, 2025," the airline said.

The airline also valued the armed forces and stated, "In the prevailing circumstances, for defence fare personnel travelling on Air India and Air India Express flights till 31 May 2025, we are issuing full cancellation refunds and one-time waiver on flight rescheduling till 30 June 2025 to facilitate them to fulfill their duty commitments."

IndiGo informed passengers that flights to and from Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu, and Dharamsala were being impacted by shifting airspace rules.

"Considering our ongoing efforts to provide relief to our customers and flexibility in their travel schedule changes, we are still providing full waiver of change and cancellation charge for travel to/from Srinagar up to 22nd May 2025, for bookings up to and including 22nd April 2025," the airline tweeted.

SpiceJet confirmed the flight operations serving Dharamsala, Leh, Jammu, Srinagar, and Amritsar to be temporarily suspended subject to further update. Akasa Air also released a travel advisory in response but did not list which flights were impacted.