KARACHI: Pakistan has decided to extend the closure of its airspace for Indian flights by another month.
According to sources, the decision is expected to be announced today (Wednesday) or tomorrow. Following this, a Notice to Airmen (Notam) will be issued.
Under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules, airspace restrictions cannot be imposed for more than one month at a time, necessitating periodic extensions.
The decision followed a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting earlier this month, where Pakistan resolved to block Indian overflights after India took provocative steps post-Pahalgam. The restrictions apply to both commercial and military aircraft.
The extension comes amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the Pahalgam attack in April, which resulted in the deaths of 26 tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
India had unilaterally closed its airspace to Pakistani flights on April 23, prompting a reciprocal ban from Islamabad the next day. India then took several other measures against Pakistan.
Later, on May 6-7, India launched unprovoked attacks on multiple Pakistani cities. In response, the armed forces of Pakistan launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos”, and targeted several Indian military targets across multiple regions on May 10.
Pakistan’s response led to the mobilisation of the global powers, following which a ceasefire was reached, which remains intact.
While India’s aviation industry has faced heavy losses, the impact on Pakistani aviation has been minimal. With only one eastbound flight rerouted via China and limited operations in the Far East, Pakistan’s aviation sector remains largely unaffected.
This is not the first time Pakistan has imposed such restrictions. Airspace closures were previously enacted during the 1999 Kargil conflict and the 2019 Pulwama crisis — both instances in which India faced greater aviation disruptions than Pakistan.