Thousands stranded in Thailand

BANGKOK: Thousands of travellers were stranded in Bangkok on Thursday when Thai Airways cancelled all flights over Pakistan after Islamabad closed its airspace in response to soaring tensions with India.

Nearly thirty flights -- the majority to and from European routes -- were initially affected, the airline said, with three aircraft forced to return to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport and others cancelled or set to be re-routed.

The travel disruption spun out across the region, with Singapore Airlines’ usually direct flights to Europe forced to re-fuel on Wednesday, while a flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. The disruption follows a snowballing crisis between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India, which has raised fears of an all-out war. Pakistan claimed it shot down two Indian Air Force planes in its airspace.

Thai Airways said nearly 5,000 passengers had been caught up in the drama, as it struggled to find new routes to Europe with Iran "rejecting" a request to travel over its airspace, according to a spokesperson for the carrier.

But a few hours later China gave "permission to Thai Airways ... to bypass Pakistani airspace," according to Pratana Patanasiri, Thai Airways Vice President, allowing Thursday night’s flights to Europe to resume.