India-Pakistan fighting: Asian, European airlines divert, cancel flights amid tensions
The detours mean that flying hours between Europe, the Middle East and Asia have become longer
India attacked Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir and Pakistan said it had shot down five Indian fighter jets in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed enemies.
Domestic flights in both countries were also disrupted. India shut several airports and as a result, flights belonging to Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air were cancelled.
The northwestern airspace of India and Pakistan’s entire airspace were nearly free of civilian aircraft, barring a few flights, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Taiwan’s EVA Air said that it will adjust its flights to and from Europe to avoid airspace affected by fighting between India and Pakistan for safety reasons.
One flight from Vienna will be diverted back to that city, while a flight from Taipei to Milan will be diverted to Vienna for refuelling before continuing on to its destination, the airline said in a statement.