Pakistan Extends Airspace Ban On Indian Airlines

Pakistan has decided to prolong the ban on Indian airlines and aircraft from entering its airspace for another month – until the early morning of February 24,according to a new notice to airmen (NOTAM) released by Pakistan’s aviation authorities.

India is likely to respond shortly by extending its own airspace closure for Pakistani airlines and aircraft for a similar duration.

This would be the tenth month of reciprocal airspace restrictions between the two neighbors.

Relations between New Delhi and Islamabad have soured since the Pahalgam terror attack in April last year, leading Pakistan to close its airspace on April 24.

This initial ban lasted for one month, preventing Indian aircraft and airlines from flying over Pakistan.

India retaliated on April 30 by closing its airspace to Pakistani aircraft and airlines.

Since then, both nations have been extending their airspace bans month by month.

Despite the mutual bans, their airspaces remain accessible to airlines from other countries.

Pakistan issued its most recent NOTAM to extend the airspace closure on Tuesday, just days before the January 24 expiration of the previous notice.

India’s current ban on Pakistani aircraft is also due to expire on January 24, and Indian aviation authorities are anticipated to release a new NOTAM to prolong the ban for another month before that date.

Around 800 flights a week run by Indian airlines have been impacted because of Pakistan’s airspace being closed.

Most of these flights are between North India and places in West Asia, the Caucasus, Europe, the UK, and eastern North America, which means they have to take longer routes.

This results in various operational issues, such as longer flight times that can be extended by 15 minutes to several hours based on how far the destination is, plus higher fuel usage and more complicated crew and flight scheduling.

All of this ultimately raises the operational costs for the airlines.

Although none of the major Indian airlines actually operate flights to Pakistan, many of them used to fly over Pakistan on their international routes to countries west of India.

North America, Europe, the UK, and West Asia are all served by Air India.

IndiGo offers flights to Europe, the Caucasus, West Asia, Turkey, and Central Asia. IndiGo had to stop operating flights from Delhi to Almaty and Tashkent in Central Asia due to Pakistan’s airspace closure, as those routes were too far for its narrow-body aircraft.

Additionally, SpiceJet, Akasa Air, and Air India Express offer international flights, primarily to West Asia.

The financial impact on Indian airlines is significant. When Pakistan shut its airspace for over four months back in 2019, Indian carriers faced estimated losses of about Rs 700 crore.

These losses mainly came from higher fuel costs and operational challenges due to the longer routes they had to take.

Air India was hit the hardest during that period since it had more west-bound international flights and is still the only Indian airline offering ultra-long-haul services to North America.

However, other Indian airlines, especially IndiGo, have expanded their global reach in recent years by utilizing their narrow-body aircraft to reach a number of locations. IndiGo is the only Indian airline flying to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Turkey.

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