Pakistan extends airspace closure for Indian aircraft until March 23

KARACHI: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Wednesday extended the airspace restrictions on Indian aircraft till March 23. The airspace will remain closed for all Indian civil and military registered aircraft till March 23, the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) said in a new notice to airmen (Notam) issued today. Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs) — Karachi and Lahore, according to a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) document from 2022. The Notam applies to both the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) FIRs. India and Pakistan have closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines since tensions between them escalated in late April 2025 in the wake of an attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people. New Delhi, without evidence, had alleged that Islamabad backed the attack. Pakistan strongly denied any involvement and offered a neutral probe. Then, in early May, the nuclear-armed nations fought their fiercest military conflict in decades. Pakistan says it downed seven Indian jets during the conflict. Amid a financial toll from a ban on Indian carriers flying over Pakistan, it was reported in November that Air India was lobbying the Indian government to convince China to let it use a sensitive military airspace zone in Xinjiang to shorten routes.

By none@none.com (Mohammad Asghar)