Flight operations affected as Qatar shuts airspace
Reuters Representative Image
Mumbai: India's airlines adjusted their operations Monday after Qatar temporarily closed its airspace amid growing security concerns in the Middle East.
The shutdown has triggered flight cancellations, diversions and delays across the region, affecting both Indian and international carriers.
Tata-owned Air India Express said: 'As a result of the ongoing situation in the Middle East and suspension of Qatar airspace, Air India Express has diverted our Doha-bound flight from Kochi to Muscat and returned our flight bound from Kannur.'The budget airline said it has no other flights bound for Qatar or on the ground in the West Asian country.'We are monitoring the situation closely and will take all necessary precautions for the safety and security of our guests and crew, with inputs from the relevant authorities,' it said.
Air India, the full-service Tata Group-owned airline, suspended all flights over the Middle Eastern airspace for the next 24 hours as a precaution.IndiGo warned of potential disruptions. 'In view of the evolving situation in the Middle East, some of our flights may experience delays or diversions,' the airline said. It urged passengers to check their flight status regularly and explore alternative options on its website.Akasa also announced that its flights to and from the Middle East may be affected by the ongoing situation in the region. The airline stated: "Our teams are closely monitoring the evolving situation to ensure that all flight operations are within safe and approved airspace."
According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium accessed by ET, several flights scheduled to arrive in Dubai on Monday were diverted to other airports, indicating a broader impact on international air traffic to the region. Air India's AI 995, operating from Delhi, returned to Delhi. Similarly, Air India Express flights from Amritsar and Jaisalmer, both bound for Dubai, were rerouted to Mumbai and Jaisalmer, respectively, while a Swiss International flight from Zurich headed to Dubai was diverted to Cairo. The flight disruptions follow Qatar's announcement to suspend all air traffic in its airspace citing safety concerns. 'The competent Qatari authorities announce the temporary suspension of air traffic in the country's airspace out of concern for the safety of citizens, residents, and visitors,' Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.The closure comes amid escalating tensions in the region following US military strikes on Iranian sites and warnings of Iranian retaliation. The region's airspace is a key corridor linking Asia with Europe and North America, and the restrictions have caused ripple effects across global aviation.According to news agency reports, several international carriers, including Finnair, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Air France-KLM and Air Astana have cancelled or rerouted flights to major Gulf hubs like Doha, Dubai, Riyadh and Beirut. Finnair has suspended flights to Doha until June 30.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Revalidate documents for vends or face licence cancellation: Excise dept to 4 corporations in Delhi
In a bid to verify the number of vends operating on the ground, the Excise Department in Delhi has sought the revalidation of the documents for L-6 (retail vend of Indian liquor/beer) and L-10 (retail vend of Indian and foreign liquor in shopping malls or airport) vends. The department will not renew the license of non-validated shops, if the details are not submitted by June 30, said officials. At present, the Capital only has government liquor shops run by four corporations — Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (DSCSC), and Delhi Consumers' Co-operative Wholesale Store Ltd (DCCWS). There are a total of 792 vends in Delhi, according to the Excise Department's website. Of these, 166 are under DCCWS, 187 are under DSCSC, 206 are under DSIIDC, and 233 are under DTTDC. 'But on the ground, only around 650 of 792 shops are being operated. This happens sometimes when the retailer takes a licence to open a shop, but they face property-related issues. For instance, if a property is already facing any litigation, or other hurdles over land or property… Most of the shops are located in private areas, as these corporations do not have government lands to set up vends…,' said a senior official. Under the revalidation process, the official said, the four corporations have been asked to submit the details regarding the number of liquor shops, how many of them are operational, and whether they are operating on government or private land. A meeting was held earlier this month where the corporations were asked to carry out the validation of documents. 'It is yet to be done. The department issued another reminder last week, asking them to do it before June 30…,' the official said. 'The corporations will have to submit a copy of lease deed or rent agreement, ownership or conveyance deed of business premises (site documents), affidavit on stamp paper confirming ward, actual possession of the premises, no suit/ court case pending/non conviction/civil/ electric work completed and an NOC (no objection certificate) in revoking the licence if required,' the official added. Other documents like measurement of the total carpet area of the premise, personal documents like a copy of PAN Card, ID proof, along with a photograph, and address proof of the leaseholder/owner of the premises are also to be submitted. Also, officials said, currently, the documentation process of opening a shop happens manually. But to bring in transparency and avoid irregularities on the ground, the Excise Department now plans to go online. '…All the corporations were directed to carry out the activity of document validation of all L-6/L-10 vends functioning under their purview before June 30. In this regard, you are, once again, requested to initiate the said process on priority, failing which the renewal of licence of non-validated shops shall not be undertaken by the department,' reads a letter written by the department to the corporations recently.
Hindustan Times
33 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
US strikes on Iran add to global travel disruptions and flight cancellations
The US entry into Israel's war with Iran has caused travel disruptions to pile up globally. Israelis disembark a bus after they were flown back to Israel in a special flight, on June 16, 2025, in Tel Aviv.(AFP) Following unprecedented bombings ordered by President Donald Trump on three Iranian nuclear and military sites over the weekend, Iran on Monday launched a missile attack on US forces at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base. Qatar had closed its airspace just hours earlier, after both the U.S. and U.K. also urged their citizens to shelter in place there. The region has been on edge following the weekend strikes from the US — and since Israel began the war with a surprise bombardment on Iran, which has responded with its own missile and drone strikes, earlier this month. As deadly attacks escalated between Israel and Iran over recent weeks, sections of airspace and airports throughout the region have temporarily closed. And airlines cancelled more flights in recent days, with some halting select routes through the middle of the week — particularly in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, just across the Persian Gulf from Iran. Singapore Airlines, for example, canceled some flights to and from Dubai starting Sunday and through Wednesday, citing 'a security assessment of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.' And British Airways has similarly suspended flights to and from Doha through Wednesday. 'Safety is always our highest priority,' British Airlines said in a statement confirming its cancellations to The Associated Press, adding that it 'will keep the situation under review.' Air India on Monday announced it was ceasing 'all operations to the region as well as to and from the East Coast of North America and Europe' immediately until further notice. The airline, which is still reeling from a plane crash that killed at least 270 people earlier this month, added that India-bound flights from North America were being diverted or re-routed away from closed airspaces. Air tracking data from FlightAware showed 705 cancellations worldwide as of Monday afternoon. Dubai International Airport topped the list with 75 cancellations in and out of the airport as of around 5 p.m. ET. And Air India had had the highest amount of cancellations among carriers, totaling 38 as of 5 p.m. ET. Such disruptions have snarled travel, particularly as central hubs in the Middle East often connect flights worldwide — but experts stress that these kind of airspace closures and flight diversions are critical to ensuring safety, especially if future escalation emerges suddenly. 'It is the responsibility of states, countries to ensure that their airspace is safe for passage of aircraft,' Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation. He added that on Monday 'the Qataris did the absolutely right thing to close their airspace because of the threat of conflict.' Beyond Qatari airspace, Flightradar24 reported that UAE airspace was also closed on Monday. After several hours of diversions, flights appeared to be landing and taking off in the country again. Monday marks the latest 'dramatic increase' in this kind of impact, said Ian Petchenik, director of communications at Flightradar24. And while the future is unknown, he added that it's important to remember airspace closures and flight cancellations reflect that 'airlines, air traffic controllers and flight crews are doing their best to keep everybody safe.' Shahidi adds that it's important for travelers to monitor government guidance — such as safety notices from the US State Department. How long the war lasts and what, if any, future escalation comes next could carry more widespread implications. Beyond disrupting global flight networks farther down the road, Shahidi stresses that it's very difficult for people who may need or want to evacuate countries impacted by the war to do so without access to commercial flights. At the same time, he adds, it's critical that state authorities focus on keeping their skies safe — pointing to past tragedies of passenger flights that were shot down by strikes. That includes Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down by Russian-backed forces while flying over Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people. 'We are all praying and urging resolution to this conflict — and especially as it relates to protection of civilian air travel," Shahidi said. "We do not want to have an MH17, with innocent lives being lost in a missile strike ... We do not want to repeat that history.'
Mint
36 minutes ago
- Mint
Air India board gave CEO Campbell Wilson a raise days before the crash
Mumbai and Bengaluru: A fortnight before the country's worst civil aviation disaster in almost three decades involving one of its flights, Tata-owned Air India's board handed its chief executive officer, Campbell Wilson, a new salary, under which he stands to earn up to ₹27.75 crore. This would be a 46% jump from the ₹18.98 crore he earned in 2023-24, according to Air India's filings. Wilson walked into the corner room in July 2022 and was promised a salary of up to ₹21.50 crore. The new remuneration package—which is effective 1 April 2025 and includes a fixed salary of ₹11.1 crore, ₹8.32 crore in performance-linked bonuses, and ₹8.32 crore in long-term stock incentives—was approved by the company's board on 27 May. This implies that about 60% of Wilson's current salary is tied to the airline's performance. Air India's ill-fated flight from Ahmedabad to London crashed on 12 June. According to Air India's disclosures, the salary structure does not include benefits and allowances such as rent-free accommodation, a car, and hospitalization. Among the highest The raise, which comes on the back of the board's recognition of his efforts to uplift the airline and for managing a series of internal mergers, positions Wilson's pay among the highest for top airline executives in the country. The country's largest and most valuable airline IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe, paid its CEO Pieter Elbers ₹21.61 crore in 2024, according to filings made by the company. Elbers was appointed CEO in September 2022. Privately held Akasa Air's founder and chief executive Vinay Dube received ₹8.65 crore in 2024, according to the company's filings made to the ministry of corporate affairs. And SpiceJet's chairman and managing director, Ajay Singh, got ₹5.4 crore in 2024, according to its latest annual report. Data from the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) showed that IndiGo had a 64.1% share of domestic passenger traffic in April, followed by Air India (27.2% share), Akasa Air (5%), and Spice Jet (2.6% share), respectively. Also read | We could have handled the delays better, says Air India CEO Campbell Wilson 'The remuneration of Mr. Wilson is commensurate with the remuneration of expatriates appointed at CEO/MD levels of similar sized multinationals taking into consideration the responsibilities shouldered by him," said a filing by privately held Air India. 'In addition to transformation of the flagship airline, Mr. Wilson successfully steered the integration of subsidiary airlines viz. Air India Express and AIX Connect into a single lowcost carrier, and the merger of Tata Sia Airlines (Vistara) with Air India." In addition to Wilson, the seven-member board of Air India comprises Tata Sons and Air India chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Tata Motors Ltd chief financial officer P.B. Balaji, former Hindustan Unilever chief executive Sanjiv Mehta, and former chairman of Deloitte India P.R. Ramesh. General Insurance Corp of India's former chair and managing director Alice Vaidyan and Singapore Airlines' chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong are the other board members. An email sent to Air India seeking a comment went unanswered. Revenue rises Air India, which is still to file its financials for the year ended March 2025, saw its revenue jump from ₹41,261.2 crore in 2023 to ₹66,433.4 crore in 2024, a 61% increase. Losses declined from ₹13,960.4 crore to ₹7,273 crore during this year. 'I think the pay (to Wilson) is comparable and justifiable," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of the proxy advisory firm InGovern Research Services. 'This is because Air India's challenges are more complex and it is still completing the merger with Vistara. It is going through a transition and faces challenges of fleet upgradation and employee unions. The biggest challenge is developing customer trust." To be sure, the biggest challenge for the airline is regaining people's trust. On 12 June, an Air India flight to London crashed seconds after takeoff from the Ahmedabad airport, resulting in the deaths of more than 240 passengers and crew, and several more on the ground. Also read | Will learn, emerge stronger from plane tragedy: Air India CEO in letter to staff Reports of the deaths, amplified by non-stop social media visuals, have shaken flyers' confidence and prompted many to cancel travel plans and dump Air India tickets,Mintreported on 19 June. Air India also faces risks, including delays in the 500-plus planes it has ordered. Additionally, the crash earlier this month has led to the DGCA inspecting its fleet of 33 Dreamliner 787-8 and 787-9 planes. Further, geopolitical skirmishes have led Air India to re-route some planes and even reduce the number of flights. Tata Sons spent ₹18,000 crore to buy Air India from the Indian government in January 2022. Subsequently, it merged Vistara, a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Ltd, with Air India. Consequently, Singapore Airlines became a 25.1% shareholder, while Tata Sons owns 74.9%. Also read | Air India sees a revenue goldmine in long-haul transit traffic
