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Air India says scheduled flights to Kabul not cancelled as of now
"We are monitoring the situation and as of now continuing with our scheduled flights to Kabul," Air India spokesperson said on Sunday evening.
Air India on Sunday said it has not cancelled its scheduled flights to Kabul as of now. "We are monitoring the situation and as of now continuing with our scheduled flights to Kabul," a spokesperson of the carrier said on Sunday, refuting reports that it has cancelled all flights in the wake of the crisis in Kabul. As Afghanistan is on the brink of surrendering to the Taliban after the insurgent group entered Kabul on Sunday, an Air India flight landed on Kabul in the afternoon. Then it took off carrying 129 passengers for Delhi.
The flight had to hover for an hour in the skies before it could land and then after refuelling it took off at around 6.06pm. But this is not the last flight to Kabul, as Air India has not yet cancelled its scheduled flights, the spokesperson said.
On Sunday, Dubai's budget carrier Flydubai temporarily suspended its operations in Kabul. “We will continue to monitor the situation and revise our plans in line with the directives from the authorities - we will be in touch with the passengers regarding their refund and rebooking options,” said flydubai.
An Emirates flight from Dubai returned to Dubai instead of landing on Sunday as Taliban militants encircled the city. “Due to the unforeseen temporary closure of the runway at the time of Emirates’ approach at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Emirates flight EK 640 to Kabul operating on 15 August has returned back to Dubai,” the state-owned airline said.
The Taliban on Sunday said they won't take Kabul over by force as they are aiming at a peaceful transfer of power. Operations in Kabul airport was also not disrupted on Sunday. NATO said it is helping to maintain operations at Kabul airport to keep Afghanistan connected with the world.
