Amid the major escalation in tensions with Pakistan over the past three days, India has extended the temporary closure of 24 airports for civil aircraft operations by four days till 5:29 am India time on May 15, according to a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued on Friday. Following India’s precision strikes at nine locations in Pakistan as part of ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the wee hours on Wednesday, New Delhi had announced closure of these airports—close to the India-Pakistan border or housed at key Indian Air Force bases—initially till Saturday 5:29 am.
But with tensions escalating and Pakistan resorting to large-scale drone and missile attacks at Indian military installations in northern and western India, and India’s proportionate military response to Pakistan, the temporary closure of these airports has been extended at least till May 15 morning.
The affected airports include Srinagar, , Leh, Amritsar, , , Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Rajkot, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Dharamshala, Bathinda, , Kishangarh, Porbandar, Mundra, and Kandla, among others. Barring a few, the majority of these airports are located at defence airfields, with some seeing only a handful commercial flights a day. Flight tracking data also showed hardly any civilian aircraft activity north of and in much of Rajasthan and Gujarat, where some of the sensitive airports close to the India-Pakistan border and key Indian Air Force stations are located.
The closure of these airports for regular flight operations is leading to cancellation of over 400 flights a day, industry sources indicated. Over 165 flights a day of the country’s largest airline IndiGo alone are getting cancelled due to these airport closures. Following Friday’s decision to extend the closure of the 24 airports, airlines issued advisories to passengers regarding flight cancellations.
“In accordance with the latest directives from the relevant authorities, please be advised that all flights to and from the following destinations will remain cancelled until 0529 hours on 15th May 2025 due to temporary airport closures: Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Bikaner, Rajkot, Jodhpur, and Kishangarh. These precautionary measures have been instituted with your safety and security as our highest priority,” IndiGo said in a travel advisory on Friday evening.
In its advisory to passengers, group airline Air India said: “Following a notification from aviation authorities on continued closure of multiple airports in India, Air India flights to and from the following stations – Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Bhuj, Jamnagar and Rajkot – are being cancelled till 0529 hrs IST on 15 May, pending further updates”.
Apart from suspending civil aircraft operations at these airports, security at all the operational Indian airports has been stepped up to the highest level. Aviation security regulator Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on Thursday ordered secondary pre-boarding checks for all passengers and all flights, banning entry of visitors at airport terminals, and deployment of required number of air marshals in line with the increased threat perception, among several other measures, all of which shall be in place at least till May 18.
Random checking of passengers’ baggage prior to their entry into the airport and physical screening of cargo and its verification with documents was also ordered. Passenger and staff ID checks at airports have become stricter, and enhanced surveillance of airport ground handling staff is being done.
Additionally, full aircraft and catering security checks were ordered. Aviation installations were also directed to ensure that all CCTV cameras are fully functional, and asked to increase the number of personnel guarding aircraft. State police and state special forces will also be deployed to bolster airports’ peripheral security.
