Flights to India, Pakistan and across South Asia have been disrupted for a third consecutive day after the Indian army said Pakistani forces launched attacks with drones and other munitions overnight.
India’s Civil Aviation Ministry announced the temporary closure of 24 airports late on Thursday night, AP reported.
Pakistan, meanwhile, was reported to have resumed flights nationwide after services were suspended at four airports, its Civil Aviation Authority said.
Many airlines are taking no chances as tension between the nuclear-armed countries increases, with the widespread cancellation of flights until at least the morning of May 10.
In the Gulf, Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has cancelled all flights to and from Pakistan until May 10. Dubai's Emirates airline has also suspended operations to Pakistan until that date.
The affected Etihad flights on Friday are EY300 / EY301 between Abu Dhabi and Islamabad, EY294 / EY295 between Abu Dhabi and Karachi, EY288 / EY289 between Abu Dhabi and Islamabad, and EY296 / EY297 between Abu Dhabi and Karachi.
"Guests transiting through Abu Dhabi to connect to these flights will not be accepted for travel from their point of origin, unless they have made separate onward travel arrangements from Abu Dhabi," the airline said in a statement on Friday.
"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."
Flydubai said its flights to Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Quetta and Sialkot scheduled for Friday were cancelled, as were several flights on Saturday.
"Flights FZ 353/354 to and from Islamabad, FZ331/332 to and from Karachi, FZ359/360 to and from Lahore, as well as FZ 337/338 to and from Sialkot Airport on May 10 have been cancelled," the airline said in a statement.
"We will continue to monitor the situation closely and amend our flight schedule accordingly. The safety of our passengers and crew is our priority.
"We are in direct contact with our customers whose travel plans have been affected and we apologise for the inconvenience caused to our passengers’ travel schedules."
International disruption
SpiceJet said on social media that “due to the ongoing situation, our flights to and from Leh, Srinagar, Jammu, Dharamshala, Kandla and Amritsar are cancelled till 5.29am [on] May 10".
Taiwan's carrier EVA Air told travellers that “flights to and from Europe might be affected”, advising passengers to check the status of their flights before arriving at the airport.
Thai Air advised passengers that “due to the closure of airspace and some airports in Pakistan after the conflict in South Asia, flights to destinations in Europe and South Asia will be rerouted which may cause delays in some flights”.
Air India has also cancelled some flights due to the escalation. Flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot have been cancelled until Saturday.
Budget airline Air India Express also posted a message on its website to say flights to and from Amritsar, Gwalior, Jammu, Srinagar and Hindon would be cancelled until Saturday.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
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Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
