Day After Operation Sindoor: 400 Flights Cancelled, 27 Airports Shut – Air India Steps Up for Armed Forces

Air India and Air India Express have announced free rescheduling or full refunds on ticket cancellations for armed forces personnel holding bookings with the airlines. The gesture follows India's precision missile and drone strikes early Wednesday, which targeted and destroyed nine terror infrastructure sites, including those linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), in a swift 25-minute operation.

"In the prevailing situation, for those personnel holding defence fares who are booked on Air India and Air India Express flights till 31 May 2025, we are offering full refunds on cancellation and a one-time waiver on rescheduling flights up to 30 June 2025 to support their duty commitments," Air India said in a post on X on Wednesday.

A similar post was also shared by Air India Express.

According to The Times of India, 430 flights have been cancelled and 27 airports across northern, western, and central India have been shut to commercial flights until Saturday, May 10.

News agency PTI reported that major Indian airlines — including Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air India Express, Akasa Air — as well as several foreign carriers, have suspended operations to and from various airports. Indian airlines alone cancelled 430 flights on Thursday, amounting to 3% of the country’s scheduled services. Meanwhile, Pakistani carriers scrapped 147 flights, nearly 17% of their total operations.

Data from Flightradar24 shows that the airspace over Pakistan and India’s western corridor — from Kashmir to Gujarat — was nearly empty, as civilian aircraft avoided the sensitive zone. Most international carriers have also stopped using Pakistani airspace, rerouting flights via Mumbai and Ahmedabad instead.

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.

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