Thai Airways Grounds Pakistan Flights Amid India-Pakistan Military Escalation
Airline cancels services to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad as neighbours engage in intensified conflict following reported cross-border strikes
Thai Airways has been compelled to cancel all flights to Pakistan with immediate effect due to a sharp escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan.
The airline announced the suspension of services to key Pakistani cities following reports of military action by both nations, marking a significant intensification of their long-standing dispute.
The cancellations affect the following routes:
- Bangkok – Karachi – Bangkok (flights TG341/TG342), effective from 10th to 11th May 2025.
- Bangkok – Lahore – Bangkok (flights TG345/TG346), effective from 10th to 15th May 2025.
- Bangkok – Islamabad – Bangkok (flights TG349/TG350), effective from 10th to 15th May 2025.
The airline stated that it is diligently monitoring the situation on a daily basis. Should conditions in Pakistan improve, Thai Airways affirmed its readiness to organise flights to repatriate Thai citizens as swiftly as possible.
Passengers seeking the latest updates and flight information are advised to consult the airline's Corporate Communications Facebook page: THAI Corporate Communications, or to contact the THAI Contact Centre on 0-2356-1111, which is operational 24 hours a day.
Thai Airways expressed i ts sincere apologies for any inconvenience this disruption may cause to passengers.
The flight cancellations come as Reuters news agency reports a significant escalation in the conflict between India and Pakistan.
According to their latest dispatches, Pakistan announced early on Saturday that it had launched a military operation targeting multiple locations within India, including a missile storage facility in the north.
This action reportedly follows what Pakistan claims were Indian missile strikes on three of its air bases, one near the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan's air defences reportedly intercepted the majority of these alleged Indian missiles.
The two nations, locked in a protracted dispute over the Kashmir region, have been engaged in increasing clashes since Wednesday, when India conducted strikes inside Pakistan, asserting they were targeting "terrorist infrastructure."
Pakistan had vowed retaliation for these earlier actions.
"BrahMos storage site has been taken out in general area Beas," a message from Pakistan's military to journalists stated.
The message further claimed that the Pathankot airfield in India's western Punjab state and the Udhampur Air Force Station in Indian Kashmir were also hit.
As of the time of reporting, India's defence and foreign ministries had not issued an immediate response to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.
However, India's military is expected to brief the media shortly, according to an advisory released by the Ministry of Defence.
