By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has once again extended its ban on Indian aircraft entering its airspace, aviation officials said on Saturday, keeping in place a restriction that has now stretched, with monthly renewals, across more than a year of strained relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Pakistan Airports Authority said the closure, previously set to lapse before dawn on July 24, will instead remain in force until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 24. The extension was announced through a routine Notice to Airmen, the formal bulletin pilots and airlines rely on for changes to flight restrictions.
The ban covers both Indian civilian and military flights, and applies broadly: aircraft registered in India, and any plane operated, owned, or leased by an Indian airline or operator, regardless of where that aircraft is flown from.
It touches both of the flight corridors that make up Pakistani airspace, the Karachi and Lahore flight information regions, according to aviation authority records.
Pakistan first shut its skies to Indian aircraft in the spring of 2025, in the tense weeks after an attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir left 26 tourists dead. India accused Pakistan of having a hand in the assault; Pakistani officials denied any involvement and called for an independent investigation, an offer that went nowhere.
The diplomatic rupture gave way to open combat that May. Over several days, Pakistan’s military said its air force downed multiple Indian fighter jets, including French-built Rafales, in what officials there described as the largest aerial engagement the region had seen in decades. The fighting ended in a ceasefire brokered by the United States, which has largely held since, even as both governments have periodically warned the other against provocations.
The airspace closure has proven far more costly for India’s aviation industry than for Pakistan’s. Indian carriers flying to Europe and North America have had to route around Pakistani territory entirely, adding flight time, burning additional fuel, and in some cases requiring refueling stops that would otherwise be unnecessary. Air India, the country’s flagship international carrier, has been among the hardest hit, absorbing higher operating costs on long-haul routes even as it works to modernize its fleet and rebuild market share.
India has maintained a reciprocal ban on Pakistani aircraft, though the practical impact has been smaller, since Pakistani carriers operate far fewer long-haul international routes through the airspace in question.
Saturday’s extension, the latest in an unbroken string of monthly renewals dating back to last spring, offered no indication that either side is preparing to reopen its skies.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
