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India, Pakistan extend airspace closure by month

The impact of India’s airspace closure has not been as significant as, unlike India’s booming aviation sector, Pakistan’s struggling flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has a limited international footprint, and that too largely to the west of the country.

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The last time when Pakistan closed its airspace for an extended period—in 2019 following the Balakot airstrikes by the Indian Air Force—some of Air India’s flights to North America had to take technical halts midway on a regular basis. (Source: Express Archives)

India and Pakistan on Friday extended the closure of their respective airspace to each other’s aircraft and airlines by a month, until the morning of June 24, according to fresh notices to airmen (NOTAMs) issued by aviation authorities in both countries.

Pakistan had on April 24 shut its airspace to Indian aircraft and airlines for at least a month amid escalating tensions following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. On April 30, India, too, closed its airspace to Pakistani aircraft and airlines. Both NOTAMs were set to expire on Saturday at 5:29 am IST.

On Friday, Pakistan and then India issued NOTAMs similar to the previous notices, shutting their airspaces to one another till 5:29 am IST on June 24.

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The impact on Pakistan

For Pakistan, the impact of India’s airspace closure has not been as significant because, unlike India’s booming aviation sector, Pakistan’s struggling flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, has a limited international footprint, and that too largely to the west of the country. When Pakistan closed its airspace for over four months in 2019, Indian airlines lost an estimated `700 crore.

The closure of the Pakistani airspace has affected around 800 flights from India a week, with carriers facing higher operational costs owing to longer durations, increased fuel burn and increased complexities in crew and flight scheduling.

Indian flights from North India to West Asia, the Caucasus, Europe, the UK, and North America’s eastern region are now longer by anywhere between 15 minutes and a few hours.

All major Indian airlines operate international flights to destinations to the west of the country, and many of these flights were routinely overflying Pakistan.

According to airline schedule data from Cirium, Pakistan International Airlines operates just six flights a week — to and from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, from Lahore and Islamabad — that were routinely flying over India.

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The last time Pakistan closed its airspace for an extended period was in 2019 following the Balakot airstrikes by the Indian Air Force in response to the Pulwama attack.

Sukalp Sharma

Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More