Civilian flight operations suspension extends to 32 airports, to stay in effect till May 15

Continued hostilities with Pakistan led the Centre to extend the suspension of civilian flight operations at 32 airports till May 15.

Accordingly, a ‘Notice to Airmen’ (NOTAM) issued on Friday, covering the affected Flight Information Regions (FIRs) extended the suspension period from May 10 to 11.59 p.m. May 15, 2025.

The airports are located across various States and Union Territories, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

As per NOTAM, the suspension will be applicable at airports such as Leh, Jammu, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jodhpur, Shimla, and Rajkot, among others.

“The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and relevant aviation authorities have issued a series of ‘Notices to Airmen’ (NOTAMs) announcing the temporary closure of 32 airports across northern and western India for all civil flight operations, effective from 9  to 14 May 2025 (which corresponds to 0529 IST on 15th May 2025), due to operational reasons,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on early Saturday.

“The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also extended the temporary closure of 25 segments of Air Traffic Service (ATS) routes within the Delhi and Mumbai Flight Information Regions (FIRs) due to operational reasons.”

Reacting to the extension, Air India, in a statement, said that following a notification from aviation authorities on the continued closure of multiple airports in India, the airline’s flights to and from stations such as – Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Bhuj, Jamnagar, and Rajkot are being cancelled “till 0529 hrs IST on 15 May, pending further updates.”

“Customers holding valid tickets for travel during this period will be offered a one-time waiver on rescheduling charges or a full refund for cancellations,” Air India said in a statement.

On its part, IndiGo said that in accordance with the latest directives from the relevant authorities, all flights to and from Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Bikaner, Rajkot, Jodhpur, and Kishangarh will remain cancelled until “0529 hours on May 15.”

Precautionary steps

“These precautionary measures have been instituted with your safety and security as our highest priority,” IndiGo said.

Industry estimates showed that over 360 flights were cancelled as a precautionary measure on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s IGI Airport, in a social media post, said that its operations remain “normal.”

“However, due to evolving airspace conditions and strengthened security measures, there may be an impact on some flight schedules and longer processing times at security checkpoints,” the post said.

On May 9, nine international and 129 domestic flights were canceled to and from the airport between 5.00 a.m. until 2.30 p.m.

Published on May 9, 2025