Asian airlines including SIA and Scoot cancel and re-route flights due to India-Pakistan fighting

SINGAPORE: All Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Scoot flights have been avoiding Pakistani airspace and using alternative flight paths since Tuesday (May 6), a spokesperson said. 

This may result in slightly longer flight times for some flights, an SIA spokesperson said on Wednesday in response to queries from CNA. 

"SIA and Scoot will assist affected customers by accommodating them on alternative flights, if necessary."

Scoot's flights to and from Amritsar have also been cancelled until Friday due to the closure of Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in the city.

A full refund will be given if affected passengers choose not to continue with their travel, a Scoot spokesperson said on Wednesday in response to queries from CNA. 

"We are monitoring the situation in South Asia closely and will continue to adjust our flight schedules as necessary."

Several Asian airlines also said on Wednesday that they were re-routing or cancelling flights to and from Europe because of the fighting between India and Pakistan.

India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of Wednesday, firing missiles on what it said were "precision strikes at terrorist camps" in Pakistan, while Islamabad said it had shot down five Indian fighter jets in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed enemies.

Pakistan authorities said there were 57 international flights operating in Pakistan's airspace when India struck, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said in a statement India's action "caused grave danger to commercial airlines" belonging to Gulf countries and "endangered lives".

India's offensive occurred amid heightened tensions in the aftermath of an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir last month. 

More than two dozen commercial flights were diverted to avoid Pakistani airspace. By Wednesday morning local time, airlines had cancelled 52 flights to or from Pakistan, according to FlightRadar24.

There were 57 international flights operating in Pakistan's airspace when India struck, according to a Pakistan army spokesperson.

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. IndiGo shares were down 1.8 per cent.

Images from the flight tracking website showed that the northwestern airspace of India and Pakistan's entire airspace were nearly free of civilian aircraft, barring a few flights.

The changing airline schedules are set to further complicate operations in the Middle East and South Asia regions for carriers, who are already grappling with a fallout from conflicts in the two regions.

Malaysia Airlines rerouted two flights from Kuala Lumpur - one to London Heathrow and one to Paris Charles de Gaulle. They stopped in Doha before continuing their journeys.

The carrier also suspended all flights to and from India's Amritsar until May 9.

Taiwan's EVA Air said 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 to Reuters.

Korean Air said it had begun rerouting its Seoul Incheon–Dubai flights on Wednesday, opting for a southern route that passes over Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India, instead of the previous path through Pakistani airspace.

Thai Airways said that flights to destinations in Europe and South Asia would be rerouted starting early Wednesday morning, warning this could cause delays to some flights.

Vietnam Airlines said that the tensions between India and Pakistan had affected its flight plans and would provide details regarding re-routing schedules later.

Taiwan's China Airlines said that flights to and from destinations including London, Frankfurt and Rome had been disrupted, with some cancelled and others having to make technical stops in Bangkok and Prague to refuel and change crews, before taking longer flight paths. Its shares were down more than 2 per cent.

Some flights from India to Europe were also seen taking longer routes. Lufthansa flight LH761 from Delhi to Frankfurt turned right towards the Arabian Sea near the western Indian city of Surat, taking a longer path compared to Tuesday, according to FlightRadar24.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many Europe-bound flights from Taiwan overflew Russia, but Taiwanese airlines are now banned after Taipei joined in Western sanctions on Moscow and generally fly over India, Pakistan and Central Asia.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines voiced concern over the impact of conflicts on airline operations.

"Apart from cost and operational disruption, there are safety concerns as GPS spoofing interfering with flight operations over conflict zones is one of highest risks the industry faces," it said in a statement.

GPS spoofing is a malicious technique that manipulates Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which can send commercial airliners off course.