Bhubaneswar: Two scheduled flights from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar were cancelled on Thursday, even as a high alert was sounded at vital installations and along the coastline in Odisha in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
Official source said one flight was cancelled due to airspace restrictions in parts of northern and western India over national security, while another because of ‘technical constraints.’
The affected flights included one heading to Hindon in Ghaziabad and another connecting Patna to Chandigarh via Bhubaneswar, according to BPIA Director Prasanna Pradhan.
The move was part of the precautionary measures following broader directives issued by aviation authorities amid heightened alert. While Bhubaneswar remains outside the conflict-sensitive zones, indirect operational constraints led to the disruption.
One flight from Bhubaneswar was directly affected as Hindon at Ghaziabad has been closed temporarily as per the government’s directives. Another flight to Patna was cancelled for the second day in a row by the airline operating it due to technical reasons.
The flight cancellations are part of a nationwide impact on air travel, following Operation Sindoor conducted by Indian armed forces in the wee hours of Wednesday. Several key airports, such as those in Hindon, Chandigarh, Jammu, Srinagar, Amritsar, and Pathankot, faced temporary suspensions of civilian flights as part of the security protocol from May 7 to 10.
Officials said all other aircraft and operations are functioning normally and there is no need for panic. Country-wide normal operations are expected to resume after the airspace restrictions are reviewed after May 10.
Meanwhile, the police have sounded a high alert across all the vital installations as well as along the state’s 480-km-long coastline. Security has been enhanced at over one dozen vital installations including Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, critical defence establishments in at least four districts, Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar, ports, industrial towns, important dams and administrative buildings in the state.
Security forces have been deployed at the defence establishments, while patrolling has been intensified on the roads leading to the vital installations. Quick reaction teams (QRTs) are also on stand-by at the defence establishments, sources said.
The state has about 114-km-long defence safety zone. These establishments are covered under a thick security blanket and guarded by Defence Security Forces (DSF) and Odisha Police. To tighten the security, several platoons of Defence Security Corps (DSC) have also been deployed at two vital establishments, the sources added.
