By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan has said its airspace remains fully open and unrestricted for all commercial traffic, despite issuing a routine notice that temporarily closes selected air routes in two regions for the rest of the month.
The clarification from the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) came on Tuesday amid widespread disruption to international flights triggered by the escalating crisis in the Middle East, where US and Israeli strikes have shut major hubs including Dubai and forced airlines to cancel or reroute services across the Gulf.
In a notice to airmen (Notam) issued on 3 March, the authority warned that “selected ATS route segments” in the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) flight information regions would be unavailable daily from 9am to 3pm local time (PKT) until 31 March. The closures, from ground level to unlimited altitude, were attributed to “standard operational reasons”.
The PAA moved quickly to head off speculation that the measure signalled any broader security-related restrictions linked to the regional conflict. In a detailed statement, it described the Notam as “a routine operational advisory” and rejected media interpretations as “incorrect and misleading”.“Pakistan’s airspace as a whole remains fully open, safe, and completely available for all civil aviation traffic, including commercial flights,” the authority said. “Air traffic services continue without hindrance, and alternative routing options are available and routinely used for all affected flows.”
“No restrictions have been imposed on commercial operations, arrivals, departures, or overflights across Pakistan. Our air traffic controllers and airport teams are fully operational and managing traffic normally.”
The authority urged media organisations and social media users to rely on official sources rather than “speculative or inaccurate headlines” that could cause unnecessary alarm among passengers. The Notam’s timing nevertheless coincided with sharp reductions in flights into Pakistan from the Gulf. On Monday, no commercial services operated between the Middle East and Islamabad International Airport except for a single Etihad Airways flight, EY300 from Abu Dhabi, which landed at 7.30pm. Services from Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat were all cancelled, according to airport officials.
Pakistan International Airlines flights to and from Saudi Arabia continued as normal, a PIA spokesman confirmed. The disruptions form part of a far wider collapse in Gulf aviation that began on Sunday after sustained air strikes closed or severely restricted operations at Dubai – the world’s busiest international transit hub – as well as Abu Dhabi and Doha. Large sections of regional airspace have been closed, forcing carriers worldwide to cancel flights or take lengthy detours. The chaos followed US and Israeli strikes that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday, plunging the region into fresh uncertainty.
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