PESHAWAR, Aug 6: The Peshawar airport was closed for flights after a Pakistan Air Force fighter jet made crash landing on Friday damaging the runway, officials said. Officials at the air traffic control told Dawn on Saturday that all incoming domestic and international flights had been diverted to Islamabad and other airports, while flights from Peshawar were cancelled and passengers were transported to Islamabad.

Authorities closed the runway for defence purpose, said an official. He did not give details. The Peshawar airport, built before the country’s independence, is used for both commercial and defence purposes. It handled about 35 flights daily.

The official sources said that a fighter jet of PAF made crash landing after developing some ‘technical fault’ at around 12noon on Friday, causing damage to the runway. They said that the tyres of the jet burst, leaving large scratches on the runway.

After the incident, flights bound for Karachi and Lahore took off from the runway. However, authorities later declared the runway unfit for landing and flights coming from Dubai, Doha and Saudi Arabia were diverted to Islamabad.

Some of the passengers were shifted to Islamabad by road so that they could catch their flights, but a majority of them were left waiting at the Peshawar terminal. They complained that the airport authorities did not give them correct information about the situation.

Officials said that the personnel of the Civil Aviation Authority and PAF were engaged in the repair of the runway. They said the flight operation would be restored soon.