India-Pakistan tensions having an impact on air travel as flights to and from Hong Kong are diverted
- Cathay Pacific says it has re-routed its Hong Kong-Dubai service south of Pakistan after Islamabad closed its airspace
- Flights to and from Europe and the Middle East may also be affected
Diplomatic tensions on the Indian subcontinent have had a knock-on effect on air travel, with at least one flight servicing Hong Kong affected by the recent closure of Pakistan’s airspace.
Cathay Pacific said on Thursday its daily Hong Kong-Dubai service had to be diverted south, resulting in minor delays to arrivals.
“Our passenger services between Hong Kong and Dubai have been adjusted to operate south of Pakistan airspace. This results in an additional five to 10 minutes’ flight time,” a spokesman said. None of its other services are routed through Pakistan’s airspace.
The carrier also said rebooking and re-routing charges would be waived for all tickets issued worldwide on or before the closure of airspace in northern India for Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights to and from New Delhi between Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, Pakistan announced that it would shut its airspace until further notice amid simmering tensions with its neighbour.
At least six Indian airports were also temporarily shut but later reopened. A vast area north of Delhi was also closed to civilian flights.
The Hong Kong Airport Authority, which manages the city’s international airport, said there were no direct flights to and from Pakistan so the overall impact on flight operations would be small.
“At this stage, we have not heard of any adverse impact involving flights to and from India,” an authority spokesman said.
Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho, who is also a commercial pilot, said such a re-routing was necessary for safety reasons and would have a considerable effect on operations.
“A five- to 10-minute delay would mean burning roughly one extra tonne of fuel,” he said.
Flights to the Middle East and some to southern Europe would be affected most, Tam added.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, China’s civil aviation authority received a request from the International Civil Aviation Organisation to open up its air space for foreign airlines to re-route.
As of 10am, seven flights from Chinese airlines had made the adjustment to their route, while 40 flights from foreign airlines had.
Several international flights, particularly those from Europe to the Middle East and Asia have been affected by the events, though most do not affect Hong Kong directly.
British Airways said it was also re-routing some services around Pakistani airspace and this would cause minor delays of around 30 minutes for a handful of flights.
Singapore Airlines said flights from Singapore to London and Frankfurt had to make refuelling stops in Dubai and Mumbai respectively before proceeding to their destinations on Wednesday.
“All other flights that overfly affected airspace will be re-routed, but are due to operate as scheduled at this point,” the airline said.
Passenger anger at Hong Kong airport after delays
Lufthansa Airways said routes to India and connections to Bangkok and Singapore were affected.
“We are already preparing adjusted routings and will increase the amount of additional fuel in the event of delays. Some traffic rights for the new routing must also be secured,” a spokesman said. “Overall, it is expected that there will be hardly any major impact on flight operations.”
Qatar Airways said flights to certain Pakistani cities would be delayed or suspended.
“Flights to other destinations close to this region may experience delays as they divert around the closed airspace,” it said.
