Afghan airspace closed, Air India says can't operate flight from Kabul

New Delhi: National carrier Air India cancelled its flight operations on the Delhi-Kabul-Delhi route on Monday as the airspace over the Afghan capital city was closed.

Accordingly, a NOTAM (notice to airmen) was issued advising incoming and transiting civilian aircraft to reroute before entering the Kabul airspace.

The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 8.30 am, however Air India which was monitoring the situation decided to operate the flight at 12.30 pm.

According to the Notam, the airspace has been released to the military and that civil aircraft entering the airspace will not get assistance from Kabul ATC.

Besides, hampering evacuation efforts, the latest development will impact international operations to and from South Asia using the Afghanistan airspace.

It was expected that this crucial flight service will be used for evacuation of Indians from the capital of the war-torn Afghanistan which saw Taliban cease power over much of the country.

On Sunday evening, an Air India flight with 129 passengers from Kabul landed in Delhi. The AI 244 had taken off at 6.06 pm on Sunday from the Kabul airport, even as the Taliban reached the Afghan capital and were on the verge of taking power.

Expressing despair over the state of affairs in Afghanistan, a woman who de-boarded the flight told reporters in Delhi on Sunday that the world has abandoned Afghanistan.

"Our friends are going to get killed," she added.

The passengers also included diplomats and security officials posted in the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

Chaos in Kabul airport

On Monday, the US troops were forced to fire warning shots at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to prevent crowds of desperate citizens running to board planes as the Taliban took over the Afghan capital city.

"The crowd was out of control. The firing was only done to defuse the chaos," an official was quoted as saying.

Gunfire could be heard in several videos on social media. The desperate scenes include crowds hovering around jets and clambering up staircases.

US troops are in charge at the airport, where they are reportedly prioritising the evacuation of the American Embassy staff on military flights.

The US earlier said that it had evacuated all of its embassy staff to the airport.

There was chaos and confusion at the Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans crowded the tarmac trying to catch a flight out of Afghanistan.

"I feel very scared here. They are firing lots of shots into the air," a witness told a news wire.

Several videos have emerged of people running onto the airport runways and trying to board flights.

There are reports that US flights carrying diplomatic staff out of the country are being prioritised, causing anger and leading to more chaos and confusion.

More flights rerouted

Meanwhile, Air India has diverted its Chicago-Delhi flight toward Sharjah in the UAE to avoid Afghanistan airspace after it was declared "uncontrolled" by authorities at Kabul airport, senior officials said.

The Chicago-Delhi flight will land in Sharjah for refuelling purposes, they said. The flight will then leave for Delhi again while avoiding the Afghan airspace.

Senior Air India officials said the Afghanistan airspace has been declared "uncontrolled" by the Kabul airport on Monday and transit flights have been asked to avoid the airspace.

Vistara's flights from Delhi to London have stopped using Afghanistan airspace.

Vistara spokesperson said on Monday, "We have stopped using Afghanistan airspace and are taking an alternate route for our flights to and from London Heathrow."

"We are closely working with the relevant authorities to monitor and assess the situation and taking necessary steps to ensure the safety of our passengers, staff and aircraft," the spokesperson added.

Vistara is not going to reduce the number of its Delhi-London flights. The full-service carrier currently operates four weekly flights on Delhi-London-Delhi route.

United Airlines also said it is re-routing some flights to avoid Afghanistan airspace. "Due to the dynamic nature of the situation we have begun routing affected flights around Afghanistan airspace," a United spokeswoman said in a statement.

The situation in Afghanistan worsened further on Sunday, as Kabul was reportedly taken over by the Taliban. Further, President Ashraf Ghani along with National Security Adviser Hamdullah Muhib and head of the administrative office of President Fazel Mahmood Fazli left Afghanistan for Tajikistan.

Some lawmakers have also fled to Islamabad, including Speaker of Afghan Parliament, Mir Rahman Rahmani, Younus Qanuni, Muhammad Muhaqeq, Karim Khalili, Ahmad Wali Masoud, and Ahmad Zia Masoud, Afghan media reported.

Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah in a video clip said that Ghani left Afghanistan.

(With IANS inputs)