All international and domestic commercial flights in and out of Pakistan were canceled “until further notice,” Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority told CNN.
Thousands of people were also stranded by affected airlines that not only land in Pakistan, but fly over its airspace.
As of Thursday, there will be no Thai Airways flights between Bangkok and London, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Zurich, Copenhagen and Oslo, the airline said in a statement.
It was also awaiting airspace authorization to operate flights on an alternative route that does not pass Pakistan.
Other airlines diverted or re-routed their flights and some had to make stops to take on extra fuel to complete extended journeys that avoided Pakistan airspace.
A map of flight paths in and out of Pakistan posted on Twitter by flight tracking company Flightradar24 on Wednesday showed all flights had stopped.
A number of Indian airlines announced the suspension of flights to several Indian airports on Wednesday, though services later resumed.
Escalating border crisis
The confrontation came a day after India said it launched airstrikes in Pakistan territory in the first such incursion by Indian air force planes since the India-Pakistan war of 1971.
India and Pakistan both control parts of Kashmir, but each claims the region in full. The latest skirmishes are the most serious crisis over the disputed border area in years.
India also accused Pakistan of having a “direct hand” in the strike, which Pakistan denied.
Source : Nbcnewyork