The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority has written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India to resume flights operations to Afghanistan by its airline Kam Air and Ariana Afghan Airline to and from Delhi. Afghanistan’s Acting Minister for Civil Aviation and Transport Alhaj Hamidullah Akhundzada under Taliban rule wrote the letter dated September 7, 2021, to DGCA Chief Arun Kumar. “The Civil Aviation Ministry will take a call on the matter as this was a policy issue,” said DGCA Chief Kumar.
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban captured Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. The US pulled its troops on August 31, 2021, from war-torn Afghanistan. The North-Atlantic Treaty Organization have also pulled their military forces out of the country.
Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan writes to DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) to resume commercial flights to Afghanistan (Kabul). Letter under review by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
— ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2021
India had stopped all commercial flight operations to Kabul post 15 Aug. pic.twitter.com/8LO96j6EkK
Taliban writes to India to resume flights to Afghanistan
“The intention of this letter is to keep the smooth passenger movement between two countries based on the signed MoU and our national carriers (Ariana Afghan Airline and Kam Air),” stated the letter by Afghanistan’s Acting Minister for Civil Aviation and Transport Alhaj Hamidullah Akhundzada under the Taliban rule.
"As the problems at Kabul International Airport have been resolved and the airport is fully operational for domestic and international flights, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) assures all airlines of its full cooperation," Akhundzada said further in the letter.
The Hamid Karzai International (HKI) airport in Kabul was damaged during the evacuation process but the Airport has become operational once again with the technical assistance offered by Qatar. A NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) was issued on September 6, 2021, in the same matter. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is an abbreviation for the Taliban's new government.
Also read: Taliban in Afghanistan: How it funds itself? – Explainer of the Day
Afghanistan airspace was declared ‘uncontrolled’, all commercial flights suspended
The Afghanistan airspace was declared ‘uncontrolled’ and was closed for civilian or commercial flights on August 16 amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The Hamid Karzai International (HKI) airport in Kabul was damaged during the evacuation process.
India had stopped all airline operations to Kabul on August 15, 2021, after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Air India’s flight scheduled to Kabul on August 16, 2021, was not able to fly due to the closure of Afghan airspace. Air India’s AI 126 Chicago-Delhi flight was also re-routed to Gulf airspace due to the Afghan airspace being shut.
On September 13, the first international commercial flight post the Taliban takeover was operated by Pakistan International Airlines between Kabul and Islamabad. Arian Afghan Airlines has been operating domestic flights but only Pakistan and Iran have been operating regular international flights out of Kabul.
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