india pakistan
Pakistan on Thursday afternoon shut its airspace to Indian aircraft.
A statement from the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said the country’s “airspace will be closed with immediate effect for all Indian owned or Indian operated airlines.”
India did not immediately announce closure of its airspace for airlines from Pakistan although it might announce it soon. In the past India too has closed its airspace to Pakistan airlines affecting the financial fortunes of airlines of that country.
The latest decision of Pakistan comes after a terror attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir which led to the loss of life of over 20 on Tuesday. The Indian government has blamed Pakistani terrorists for the attack and has vowed to take action against the perpetuators of this crime.
The closure will affect flights of Indian airlines operating to the West. Air India and IndiGo took to X to say some international flight schedules may be impacted due to changing of flight paths leading to an alternative extended route.
“Due to the announced restriction of Pakistan airspace for all Indian airlines, it is expected that some Air India flights to or from North America, UK, Europe, and Middle East will take an alternative extended route. Air India regrets the inconvenience caused to our passengers due to this unforeseen airspace closure that is outside our control,” Air India said in a message on X.
Normally when an aircraft takes off from India for Europe, US or Canada it flies over Pakistan airspace and then onwards westwards. But now with Pakistan shutting its airspace the flights will become longer.
The closure of Pakistan airspace could see flights from Delhi becoming longer by between 90 and 120 minutes and the direct cost impact will be in the region of $25,000 to $30,000 for a widebody per sector and about half of that for a narrowbody aircraft said Captain P. P Singh, former Accountable Manager, Jet Airways.
“This does not include revenue loss due to payload penalties or inability to complete the flight without refueling enroute,” Captain Singh added.
But what will help Indian carriers this time on flights to the US, Canada and Europe is the fact that Indian airlines are allowed to fly through Russian airspace which is shut off for global airlines. This will benefit Air India in its flights to US, Europe and Canada.
Not the first time that the neighbors have shut airspace to one another’s airlines
This is not the first time that Pakistan has shut its airspace for Indian carriers. The last time was in 2019 when both countries shut their airspace for each other’s airlines.
At that time Air India confirmed to the Dubai based Khaleej Times  that some of its flights to or from North America, UK, Europe, and Middle East “will take an alternative extended route”.
Indian carriers were said to have lost Rs 5400 million between February 26 and July 2, 2019, due to Pakistan’s airspace closure, then Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had told the Indian Parliament.
The same had also happened in the early 2000s when the airspace between the two countries was shut.
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