India unlocks the skies, 32 airports resume operations

India on Monday reopened 32 airports across north and northwestern parts of the country that were closed due to airspace restrictions following the conflict with Pakistan.

Airports which reopened include Srinagar, Jammu, Chandigarh, Leh, Bikaner, and Amritsar, airport authorities said. This follows approval from the Indian Air Force to resume operations following the ceasefire between the two nuclear armed nations announced on Saturday.

"Attention flyers; reference notice issued for temporary closure of 32 Airports for civil aircraft operations till 05:29 hrs of May 15, 2025. It is informed that these airports are now available for civil aircraft operations with immediate effect," the Airports Authority of India, which operates these airports, said.

However, Amritsar and Chandigarh airports were shut again at around 9 pm after both the cities announced blackouts following drone sightings in Srinagar.

Airlines and airport authorities are now working to ensure a smooth transition back to normal operations, including reallocation of slots, staff deployment, and crowd management.

IndiGo, which has flights to almost all the airports, said there may still be delays and last-minute adjustments when it restarts flights. Close to 1,000 flights were cancelled in the last four days after these airports were shut for commercial operations.

Air India Express said it will start flights on Tuesday on routes such as Hindon-Bengaluru, Jammu-Delhi, Jammu-Srinagar, Srinagar-Delhi, and Hindon-Mumbai.

However, Indian airlines operating international flights to the Gulf and the West continue to face disruptions as the Pakistan airspace remains shut for them, forcing these carriers to take longer detours.

Air India's services to North America have been making technical stops at Vienna and Copenhagen to uplift extra fuel.