SriLankan Airlines has cancelled flights to the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore scheduled for Thursday (February 28) following the temporary closure of Pakistani airspace by the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan.

Issuing a statement, the airline said that passengers who were booked to fly to Karachi and Lahore are kindly advised to contact their travel agents and visit www.srilankan.com for further information.

SriLankan said it regrets the inconvenience passengers, due to circumstances entirely beyond the control of the airline, and that the safety of all passengers is of paramount importance to airlines.

“The airline is closely monitoring the situation and is in constant touch with respective authorities on this matter,” the release said.

India and Pakistan closed some of their airspace, forcing airlines to cancel or divert some flights, after Pakistan said it shot jets from its neighboring rival that crossed into its territory.

Pakistani airspace has officially been closed for commercial flights, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan announced on Wednesday.

At the time of the announcement, Pakistani airspace, according to Flight Radar 24 — a global flight tracking service — was almost entirely empty.

Indian news reports say that airports in the Indian-occupied Kashmir have also been closed for civilian traffic.

The Press Trust of India news agency says these airports are located at Srinagar, Jammu and Leh.

-With inputs from agencies