Jammu, Srinagar airports closed for commercial operations, flights cancelled

With India launching strikes inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early Wednesday, the airports in Jammu and Srinagar were closed due to heightened tensions, according to airport officials.

All flights were cancelled for the day, and the cancellations are expected to continue in the coming days until the situation improves, senior officials said.

In the morning, Srinagar airport authorities announced that the airfield was closed and that “no civil flights will be operated from Srinagar Airport today.”

A senior airport official told The Tribune in the evening that all flights would remain cancelled on Thursday as well. “We can’t say when flight operations will resume, but as of now, there will probably be no flight operations on Thursday,” the official said.

According to officials, more than 40 departures were scheduled for Wednesday. Although the airport authorities said they would review the situation on a day-to-day basis, several airlines have already cancelled flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, and Leh until the morning of May 10.

They cited instructions from aviation authorities regarding the closure of these airports.

In its advisory, SpiceJet stated: “Due to the ongoing situation, our flights to and from Leh, Srinagar, Jammu, Dharamsala, Kandla, and Amritsar are cancelled till 10th May.”

Similarly, Air India announced the cancellation of its flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot until the morning of May 10, following a notification from aviation authorities.

Meanwhile, the Haj flight scheduled to operate from Srinagar was also cancelled due to the prevailing situation. A senior official from the J&K Haj Committee said that one flight scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled. “Another flight scheduled for Thursday has also been cancelled,” he said, adding that over 600 pilgrims were scheduled to depart for the holy journey.

The official noted that since ample time remains before the commencement of the Haj pilgrimage, the committee is monitoring the situation and will decide future actions accordingly.