By The Sampadak Express
In a significant move following the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, the Indian government has lifted the temporary closure of 32 airports across northern and western regions of the country. These airports had been shut amid escalating military tensions over the past week.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirmed on Monday morning that all affected airports are now open for civil aircraft operations, effective immediately. The shutdown, which had disrupted over 300 flights daily, including more than 160 operated by IndiGo, was originally scheduled to last until 5:29 AM on May 15.“
Travellers are advised to check flight status directly with airlines and stay updated via airline websites,” the AAI said in a statement.
Flight Operations Resume Gradually
Airlines have already begun restoring services to the previously closed airports. IndiGo announced the resumption of key routes including Delhi–Chandigarh, Delhi–Jammu, and Delhi–Amritsar from Monday evening. More routes are expected to be operational in the coming days.
Air India Express stated that flights will resume from Tuesday on routes such as Hindon–Bengaluru, Jammu–Delhi, Jammu–Srinagar, and Srinagar–Delhi. Services on Hindon–Mumbai will restart on Wednesday. The airline also plans to reinstate international flights from Amritsar starting May 15.
Air India is working to restart operations across several key locations including Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot. SpiceJet also confirmed efforts to resume normal operations swiftly.
Background: Conflict and Temporary Closure
The closures followed heightened hostilities between India and Pakistan last week, triggered by India’s precision strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7. In response, Pakistan launched drone and missile attacks on Indian military bases, prompting India to extend the airport shutdown initially declared on May 7.
Among the impacted airports were key strategic and border-area locations such as Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Bhuj, and Rajkot. Most of these are defence airfields with limited commercial activity, but their closure had widespread effects on civil aviation.
With tensions de-escalating after the ceasefire, normalcy is gradually returning to Indian skies, with full resumption of airline services expected in the coming days.
