Officials said that no flight can operate from Kabul airport as the airspace has been closed by the Taliban, which means no aircraft can land or take off from the air station. Reportedly, an Air India aircraft tasked to fly to Afghanistan to bring people but now it will be no longer go there too.
Taliban has issued a NOTAM or notice to the airmen, according to which Kabul airspace has been closed. A source of Air India told media website NDTV, “The airspace is closed. How any airline can operate? As of now, we are not able to operate our 12:30 pm flight to Kabul.”
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Air India flights coming from the US have to re-route since Afghanistan airspace has been closed. Fights Al-126 (from Chicago to New Delhi) and Al-174 (from San Francisco to New Delhi) will re-route to Gulf nations to refuel, sources said adding, Air India would also find new routes for the flights between India and the United Nations. As per the flight tracking website FlightRadar24, Air India Flight Al-126 has changed the course and left the airspace of Afghanistan shortly after entering.
Kabul airport authority told media agency AFP, “There will be no commercial flights from Hamid Karzai Airport to prevent looting and plundering. Please do not rush to the airport.” As per the news agency Reuters, the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority asked all transit aircraft to reroute as any transit through Kabul airspace would be uncontrolled.
Also Read: Taliban shoots women without hijab at Kabul airport, US troops retaliate
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has left the country with his core team on Sunday as Taliban terrorists entered capital Kabul. A senior interior ministry official told in an interview the Taliban rebels were coming "from all sides" into the capital but gave no further details. Hundreds of Afghans, including government ministers and employees, as well as civilians, including many women and children, had also rushed to the terminal, anxious for flights out.