TORONTO — More than a thousand passengers were affected after Air Canada partially suspended service to India due to the closure of Pakistani airspace as tensions mount between the two nuclear powers.

A flight en route to Delhi Feb. 26 turned back over the Atlantic Ocean and returned to Toronto Feb. 27, the airline said.

A second Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Delhi slated for takeoff Feb. 26 was also cancelled, said spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur.

The Feb. 27 flights on the same two routes were cancelled “as there currently are no suitable alternate routings,” she said.

On both routes, Air Canada flies Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets with more than 280 seats, meaning up to 1,100 people are likely impacted by the cancellations so far.

“We continue to monitor this situation closely and flights to Delhi will operate as soon as operationally feasible,” Arthur said.

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s military said it shot down two Indian warplanes in the disputed region of Kashmir and captured a pilot, responding to an airstrike a day earlier by Indian aircraft inside Pakistan and raising tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals to a level unseen in the last two decades.

The closure of Pakistani airspace interrupted flights around the globe, as airlines scrambled to reroute planes and arrange refuelling stops.

Qatar Airways, Emirates and Gulf Air were some of the airlines that halted flights to Pakistan on Wednesday. Singapore Airlines, British Airways and others said they had rerouted several flights. Thai Airways flights were also impacted.

Hundreds of international flights a day travel above India and Pakistan, a corridor all the more integral to global air networks because of tight restrictions on flying over neighbouring China.

As reported yesterday Air Canada has posted travel advisories for both Delhi and Mumbai on its website, citing Airspace Closure. The advisories were valid for flights on Feb. 27 and also today, Feb. 28, and allow passengers to change their travel plans without incurring change fees.

Arthur said Air Canada is monitoring the situation in order to resume service once it “normalizes.”

Air Canada operates daily service from Toronto and Vancouver to Delhi and four times weekly between Toronto and Mumbai. It has no aircraft on the ground in India and all flights from India to Canada have returned as scheduled, said Arthur.