IndiGo suspends flights to Almaty, Tashkent till June 14

New Delhi, May 8: IndiGo has suspended its direct flights to Almaty and Tashkent till June 14 due to aircraft operational range constraints, an airline official said on Thursday.

The country's largest airline, which has been operating daily flights to the two overseas cities from Delhi, had first suspended the services till May 7.

After the closure of the Pakistan airspace from April 24 onwards, Indian airlines operating flights to the West have been taking longer routes and narrow-body planes might not operate non-stop for a long duration. IndiGo operates Airbus narrow-body aircraft to Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

The official told PTI that the flights to Almaty and Tashkent have now been suspended till June 14.

On April 25, IndiGo said that around 50 international routes operated by it will require longer sectors and hence may be subject to some slight schedule adjustments.

"With the same restrictions and limited rerouting options, unfortunately, Almaty and Tashkent are outside the operational range of IndiGo's current fleet," it had said.

Flights to Almaty stand cancelled from April 27 until at least May 7 and to Tashkent from April 28 until May 7, the airline had said in a statement.

Amid escalating tensions between the two countries following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed at least 26 people, India initiated retaliatory measures. Pakistan closed its airspace for Indian airlines on April 24, and later on April 30, India barred Pakistan carriers from using its airspace.

On Wednesday, under Operation Sindoor, armed forces launched missile attacks on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).