Travellers whose plans had been disrupted by the escalating dispute between India and Pakistan were given hope on Saturday after a ceasefire announcement was followed by Islamabad's airport authority reopening Pakistani airspace.
The two nuclear powers had been exchanging deadly air force, missile, drone and artillery attacks, which had forced the cancellation of many international flights, including to and from the UAE's hubs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
“All airports across the country are now available for regular flight operations," Pakistan's airports authority announced minutes after the ceasefire announcement.
Before this, Pakistan had closed its airspace for all flights until noon on Sunday.
India also announced the closure of 32 airports in the northern and western parts of the country, and suspended 25 air route segments until May 15.
Etihad airlines said on Saturday that select services from Abu Dhabi to destinations in Pakistan would operate on Sunday, with flights to Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore running, while its full schedule would resume on Monday.
Mohammad Ali, a resident of Jhelum, in Pakistan's Punjab, was on his way to Islamabad when the news of the truce broke.
He was going there with his family, who live in Abu Dhabi, to get closer to the airport once flights resume and to escape shelling that happened nearby.
"All the houses near the river [in Jhelum] were on high-alert," he told The National. "We had to leave the hometown for safety reasons."
But with the expectation that many are in a position similar to his, Mr Ali did not make his way to the airport to buy tickets.
"Thousands want to leave the country. Finding tickets would be impossible," he said.
Social media was also buzzing with the news with people celebrating the announcement.
Prior to the ceasefire announcement, Etihad Airways said it had cancelled selected flights to and from Pakistan on Thursday "due to the continued closure of Pakistani airspace". The airline said flights EY296 and EY297 between Abu Dhabi and Karachi were still scheduled to go ahead as planned, subject to airspace availability.
However, the airline said that services EY300 / EY301 between Abu Dhabi and Islamabad, EY288 / EY289 between Abu Dhabi and Lahore, EY294 / EY295 between Abu Dhabi and Karachi, EY302 / EY303 between Abu Dhabi and Islamabad as well as EY284 / EY285 between Abu Dhabi and Lahore were all cancelled on Thursday.
"This remains an evolving situation, and further changes or disruptions may occur. Etihad continues to monitor developments closely in co-ordination with the relevant authorities," read a statement from the airline. "The safety of our guests and crew remains our highest priority, and we regret any inconvenience caused."
Emirates had suspended all flights to Pakistan until Saturday.
"Emirates is suspending flight operations to all points in Pakistan until May 10, due to ongoing uncertainly surrounding access to the country’s airspace and airports," read a statement on the airline's website posted prior to the ceasefire.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers. We are monitoring the situation closely and will post any operational updates on our website."
Customers can check the latest travel information by visiting the flight status page.
Flydubai said flights FZ391/392 to and from Faisalabad, FZ325/326 to and from Multan and FZ315/316 to and from Sialkot airports were running on Thursday. However, the airline said its remaining flights to Faisalabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Sialkot and Quetta were cancelled on Thursday and Friday.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and amend our flight schedule accordingly,” said an airline representative. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our priority. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our passengers’ travel schedules.”
Along with Etihad and Qatar, Emirates was among those to halt flights on Wednesday from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha to airports in northern India and Pakistan.
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