In light of the ongoing conflicts witnessed in Afghanistan, Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport has in recent weeks been the main focus for evacuation and repatriation flights.
Majority of flights at Kabul airport are being operated by military at the moment, as civil operations have severely been limited. However, according flight tracking website, flightradar24, airlines from more than 30 countries have provided aircraft to carry stranded passengers from Afghanistan operating from air bases in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE or airports in Pakistan and Tajikistan.
Situation at Kabul
Authorities in Afghan issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) warning that aircraft were on their own with the Air Traffic control (ATC) for commercial aircraft overflying Afghanistan ceasing on 18th August. NOTAM went on to instruct pilots that engines must remain on at the airport and landings must be pre-cleared within a 60-minute window.
FOLLOWING NOTAM IS ISSUED ON REQUEST OF KABUL ACC. DUE SECURITY REASON KABUL ACC. IS RELEASED TO MILITARY. NO ATS WILL BE AVAILABLE. ACFT TRANSITING THROUGH KABUL FIR WILL BE FLYING IN UN-CONTROLLED AIRSPACE AT THEIR OWN RISK.
There are no services available at the Kabul airport including fuel and aircraft servicing with the airport’s instrument landing system and Very High frequency omni-directional range (VOR) also out of service.
Afghanistan being a heavy travel corridor for international over flights especially those in transit from North America and Europe to destinations in India and Southeast Asia, has seen major international carriers scrambling to reroute and avoid the Afghan airspace leading to disruptions of passenger services to India and Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Among the airlines that have repatriated people from Kabul include;
Africa Charter Airline, South Africa
Air Belgium, Belgium
Air Europa, Spain
Air India, India
Air Tanker, United Kingdom
Ajwaa Airlines, Egypt
Condor, Germany
Corendon Dutch Airlines, Netherlands
Danish Air Transport, Denmark
Eastern Air Lines, United States
Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia
EuroAtlantic Airways, Portugal
Finnair, Finland
Freebird Airlines, Turkey
Georgian Airways, Georgia
GlobalX, United States
GulfAir, Bahrain
Gullivair, Bulgaria
HiFly, Portugal
Iberai, Spain
Jordan Aviation, Jordan
Kam Air, Afghanistan
Kenya Airways, Kenya
Klasjet, Lithuania
Kuwait Airways, Kuwait
LOT, Poland
Lufthansa, Germany
Luke Air, Italy
National Airlines, United States
Neos, Italy
PIA, Pakistan
Priviledge Style, Spain
Qatar Airways, Qatar
Safe Air Company, Kenya
SAS, Denmark/Norway/Sweden
Smartwings, Czech Republic
Star East, Romania
Sun country, United States
Swiss, Switzerland
Tarom, Romania
Titan Airways, United Kingdom
TUI (NL), Netherlands
Turkish Airlines, Turkey
Utair, Russia
Uzbekistan Airways, Uzbekistan
Wamos, Spain
World2fly, Spain
By Victor Shalton Odhiambo
