Airlines reroute flights away from Afghan airspace after Kabul falls to the Taliban

Major international airlines are rerouting flights away from Afghan airspace, disrupting passenger services to India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates, after the country fell to the Taliban, on August 15.

Pilots were warned that the Afghanistan air traffic control was handed over to the military and that the planes will be “flying in uncontrolled airspace at their own risk.”

United Airlines started rerouting its U.S.-India flights around Afghanistan, on Sunday. “Due to the dynamic nature of the situation we have begun routing affected flights around Afghanistan airspace,” a United spokeswoman said in a statement.

Thousands of Afghans swarmed into the Hamid Karzai International Airport after armed insurgents of the Taliban surrounded the capital city, Kabul, taking over the reins of the country, after President Ashraf Ghani and his entourage fled the country along with substantial amounts of cash.

United serves Delhi from its Newark Liberty International Airport hub daily and five times a week from Chicago O’Hare International Airport. It also flies from Newark to Mumbai daily. The flights are among its longest routes, reported CNBC. The carrier is the only major U.S. airline that is flying non-stop to India.

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, and Lufthansa also ordered their flights to avoid the Afghanistan airspace.

In July, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration restricted U.S. airlines and other U.S. operators from flying over the Afghanistan air space below 26,000 feet. This is lower than cruising altitude for such long flights, “due to the risk posed by extremist/militant activity and limited risk mitigation capabilities.”

Flydubai and Emirates airlines suspended flights to Kabul. Emirates announced that customers holding tickets with the final destination to Kabul will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin.

Earlier Sunday, Emirates Flight EK640, a Boeing 777-300 aircraft, returned to Dubai after nearing Kabul after the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned of reports of a fire at the airport.

(With inputs from CNBC)

Picture Credits: Getty Images