Kabul airport closed for commercial flights

Kabul’s international airport has been closed to commercial flights, according to a NOTAM issued by the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority.

Afghanistan’s aviation authority said on Monday the country’s airspace had been “released to the military” and advised airlines to avoid its air corridors, prompting major airlines to divert flights in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul

The airport was closed due to chaos after the Taliban captured most of the country in a matter of days and swept into the capital on Sunday.

On Monday, United Airlines (UAL), Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Flydubai all announced changes to flights to or over Afghanistan, saying that they would monitor the situation as chaotic scenes unfolded at the main airport in Kabul, the nation’s capital.

At least five people have reportedly died on Monday as the situation at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport turns grim resulting in heavy gunfire while US troops tasked with the security amid airlift.

The people invaded the airport premises and thronged the tarmac manifestly to flee the country while they can following yesterday’s Taliban takeover of the capital.

Thousands of Afghans, who fear for their lives after the Taliban takeover of the country, have converted the passenger terminal of Kabul’s international airport, in hopes of getting an evacuation flight.

The U.S. military has taken over the security of the Kabul airport to execute the massive airlift of foreign diplomats and citizens.