Airlines have stopped flying through Afghan airspace after the country’s civil aviation authority advised carriers to reroute.

United Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic had stopped using airspace after the Taliban swept into the country’s capital, Kabul.

The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) advised transit aircraft to reroute, Reuters reported.

The ACAA said journeys through Kabul airspace would be uncontrolled.

The announcement comes after the Taliban took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizens.

Chaos has ensued at Kabul airport as hundreds of Afghans are trying to leave the country.

© Getty Images One picture showed Afghans crowding behind barbed wire near the airfield

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said on Twitter that an Air India flight from Chicago to Delhi had changed course and exited Afghanistan’s airspace shortly after entering, while a Terra Avia flight from Baku to Delhi was also changing course.

Commercial flights set to land in Afghanistan have also been affected by the chaos on the ground.

Emirates has suspended flights to Kabul until further notice, the airline said on its website. – BBC NEWS

credit photo: Yakov Oskanov