Qatar Airways announces flight cancellations till March 6; Srilankan Airlines resumes flights to Dubai
Jinnah airport. Photo: PPI (file)
KARACHI:
Pakistan’s international airports are experiencing widespread flight cancellations for the fifth consecutive day due to ongoing regional tensions in the Gulf, with a total of 578 flights to Gulf countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, being cancelled since March 28, with 162 flights cancelled on Wednesday alone.
Affected carriers include Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, PIA, Air Blue, Fly Dubai, and Qatar Airways. Sources report that 578 flights to Middle Eastern countries have been cancelled from Pakistan’s airports over the past five days.
At Karachi Airport, 40 flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Sharjah, Kuwait, and Bahrain were cancelled. Islamabad Airport saw 38 cancellations to destinations including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Sharjah. Lahore Airport had 28 cancellations, Peshawar 24, Multan 18, Sialkot 8, and Faisalabad 6 flights were affected.
The US and Israel launched joint strikes in Iran that killed 201 and injured over 700. Iranian state media confirmed that the 86-year-old supreme leader Ali Khamenei died while working in his central leadership compound, alongside family members, including his daughter and grandchildren.
Since then, Iran has targeted multiple US bases in surrounding Gulf States, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq, causing multiple countries to temporarily shut their airspace.
Read: Americans stranded in Middle East told not to rely on US evacuation helpline
Qatar Airways has also issued an update, confirming that its flight operations will remain suspended until March 6 due to the continued closure of Qatari airspace. Passengers will receive further updates on March 6 at 9:00am.
The airline added that operations will resume once the airspace is safely reopened and advised passengers to check their website for the latest updates.
Meanwhile, SriLankan Airlines has resumed limited flight operations between Colombo and Dubai from Wednesday, following a suspension that began on February 28.
Flight UL231 will depart from Colombo to Dubai, while the return flight UL232 will carry passengers back to Colombo, the airline confirmed.
