Passengers stuck at Delhi airport as multiple flights get cancelled after Operation Sindoor

Indian Express

07-05-2025

Adnan Manzoor, 18, was finally about to head back home to Srinagar from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Wednesday morning after a gruelling three years of NEET preparation in Kota, Rajasthan's examination coaching hub. But he would have to wait a little longer.
Flights to and from almost all major airports north of Delhi have been cancelled after Indian armed forces struck nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of Operation Sindoor launched early on Wednesday.
'I reached the airport at 7 am for my flight to Srinagar which was scheduled for 2 pm. Only then did they inform me that the flight was cancelled, but they said there is a flight in the evening,' Manzoor said, hoping to reach home as quickly as possible after the teenager appeared for what he felt was a particularly tough exam, especially the Physics section.
India's largest carrier IndiGo has cancelled all its flights scheduled to airports in North India, including Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Dharamshala, for the day, while Tata group carrier Air India has announced similar cancellation of flights to airports in the north till May 10.
By 7.42 am, 20 flights had already been cancelled at the Delhi airport, according to a source. As many as 76 departing flights and 46 arriving flights were also delayed, according to live flight tracking website Flightradar24.
'Kindly note, due to changing airspace conditions, some flights have been impacted at Delhi Airport. For updated flight information, passengers are advised to contact their respective airlines or may visit our official website,' Delhi Airport said in a post on X early Wednesday.
Kalicharan, 45, has been at the airport with his wife and two kids since 5 pm on Tuesday. 'We reached Delhi early on Tuesday morning by train from Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. Spent as much time as we could have at the train station and then came to the airport in the evening. Since then, we have been tossing and turning and trying to sleep here,' said Kalicharan, who was going to Leh to work at a construction site.
'They are saying there might be a flight tomorrow afternoon, so we will wait for that. Where will we go,' asked his son Karan Neherwal, 18, as he lay on a bedsheet they had spread on the floor outside Terminal 1 at the IGI Airport.
Nirmal Rai, 38, is sitting on a bench outside the airport, waiting for instructions from the airlines and wondering what he will do as his 6 am flight to Leh was cancelled. 'We have been here since midnight. Now we have to wait more. We don't have any choice, we don't have anywhere to stay,' says Rai, who is with a group of 13 labourers heading to Leh for the construction of a road. The group, hailing from Dumka in Jharkhand, generally goes to the mountain region in early May and works till Diwali, when work stops and they return home.
'I am just concerned about getting a refund,' said Chhiga Ahirwar, 48, who also hails from Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. He too is travelling to Leh with another group of 15 labourers. Param Lal, 50, one of the people in the group, is making frantic calls to contractors he knows in the city to find a place to stay. 'How will I find a place for 15 people to stay? If it is a family of three to four, then it is fine, but who will keep 15 people in their house,' Lal said.
Air India said that two international flights to Kashmir are diverted to Delhi. 'In view of the prevailing situation, Air India has cancelled all its flights to and from the following stations – Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot – till 12 noon on 7 May, pending further updates from authorities. Two international flights en route to Amritsar are being diverted to Delhi. We regret the inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen disruption,' it said.
Flight tracking data also showed no civilian aircraft activity north of Delhi, where some of the sensitive airports close to the Pakistan border are located.