ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has extended a ban on Indian-registered aircraft from using its airspace until late March, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Friday, prolonging restrictions that have disrupted flight routes for Indian airlines.
Pakistan first imposed the restriction on Apr. 23 last year as part of a series of tit-for-tat measures announced by both countries days after an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed the attack that killed 26 tourists on Pakistan, Islamabad denied it.
Tensions had quickly escalated between the neighbors after India targeted several sites in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, triggering four-day-long missile, drone and artillery exchanges before a the United States brokered a ceasefire took on May 10, 2025.
"Pakistan’s airspace will remain closed to all Indian military and civil registered aircraft until Mar. 23," the PAA said in a statement.
This marks the ninth extension of the ban that has forced Indian airlines to reroute international flights, increasing fuel consumption, travel times and operating costs.
Air India, which operates numerous flights to Europe and North America, is lobbying the Indian government to convince China to let it use a sensitive military airspace zone in Xinjiang to shorten routes as the financial toll from the ban on Indian carriers flying over Pakistan mounts, according to Reuters.
