Flight disruptions amid Gulf tensions hit travel at KIA
BENGALURU: A temporary closure of West Asian airspace caused major disruptions at the Kempegowda International Airport on Tuesday. As a result, six incoming flights and 10 outgoing flights to Gulf destinations were cancelled. In a related impact, five Qatar Airways flights headed for Doha were rerouted to Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday, according to KIA officials. Many of these flights were originally scheduled for July 23 and 24.
Among the cancelled incoming flights were three IndiGo services from Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Jeddah, along with a Kuwait Airways flight from Kuwait City, an Akasa Air flight from Abu Dhabi, and an Air India flight from London.
The outbound services that were called off include four IndiGo flights headed for Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai, a Kuwait Airways service to Kuwait City, one Akasa Air flight to Abu Dhabi, two Air India Express flights to Dammam and Abu Dhabi, a Gulf Air flight to Bahrain, and an Air India service to London.
In addition to these cancellations, five international flights that were originally en route to Hamad International Airport in Doha were diverted to Bengaluru. These included four Qatar Airways flights and one operated by Virgin Australia, arriving from cities such as Osaka, Phuket, Jakarta, Sydney, and Hong Kong.
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