Flight operations at three airports in Jammu and Kashmirresumed after they were closed for a few hours Wednesday in the wake ofheightened tension between India and Pakistan, officials said.
A total of 14 airports, including Srinagar, Jammu and Leh,were closed for civilian air traffic for several hours before being madeoperational again. The other airports that were closed down temporarily includeAmritsar, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Kullu and Shimla.
Srinagar-based director of the Airports Authority of India,Akash Deep Mathur, said 25 scheduled flights from Srinagar were cancelled afterthe aviation regulator Director General of Civil Aviation closed down theairspace for commercial flight operations.
“Two flights that were grounded took-off from Srinagar butwithout any passengers in late afternoon. We expect normal operationstomorrow,” he said.
As per officials, among all the airports where air trafficwas suspended due to the India-Pakistan strife, Srinagar, which has the highestannual passenger footfall of 22.6 lakh, was worst hit.
Flight operations at Amritsar and Chandigarh, the second andthird busiest airports after Srinagar in this region with 18 lakh and 15.9 lakhannual passenger footfalls respectively were also badly hit, officials said.
20 flights were cancelled at Jammu airport on Wednesday butflight operations resumed later in the day.
Several private airlines operating in this sector said theflights scheduled for Thursday, which were cancelled earlier, will operate asper changed schedule that is being conveyed to the passengers through textmessages and calls.